Ex-military surgeons embrace new mission: stop Americans from bleeding to death
A movement to revolutionize the treatment of trauma patients in the U.S. can be traced to an infamous battle fought in East Africa more than 30 years ago.
A movement to revolutionize the treatment of trauma patients in the U.S. can be traced to an infamous battle fought in East Africa more than 30 years ago.
Dr. John Holcomb was an Army trauma surgeon deployed to Somalia when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the city of Mogadishu in 1993. With dozens of soldiers bleeding out and no hospitals available, the head doctor told Holcomb to prepare for a “walking blood bank.”
“I had never heard of such a thing,” Holcomb recalled.
Dr. John Holcomb in Somalia in 1993.Courtesy Dr. John HolcombMembers of the medical team laid down, rolled up their sleeves and soon their blood was being delivered directly to wounded soldiers. The medical staff then got up and continued working.That experience, which demonstrated how getting blood to trauma patients as quickly as possible saves lives, left a lasting impression. Holcomb is now among a group of former military surgeons on a mission to make blood available to patients in those critical moments when they’re en route to a hospital.
Currently, 99% of rescue services in the U.S. don’t stock their ambulances and helicopters with blood. The result: tens of thousands of people bleed out each year from injuries they could have survived, medical experts say.
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