Ross Davenport

Senior Lecturer, Trauma Sciences, C4TS; Consultant Trauma and Vascular Surgeon, Royal London Major Trauma Centre, Bart’s Health NHS Trust, London, UK

Dr Davenport is a Senior Lecturer in Trauma Sciences at C4TS and consultant trauma and vascular surgeon at the Royal London Major Trauma Centre, Bart’s Health NHS Trust.  His research focus is on trauma-induced coagulopathy, acute response to injury and the treatment of major trauma haemorrhage.  He has previously worked in prehospital care for both London and Essex & Herts Air Ambulances.  Currently he is a personal tutor and module lead for the online Masters programme in Trauma Sciences at QMUL.

The Use of Prehospital Blood

The use of blood and blood components as part of haemostatic resuscitation or balanced transfusion in major trauma haemorrhage is now considered essential to achieve optimal outcomes in shocked patients with evidence of bleeding. Deaths from haemorrhage typically occur within the first 2-3 hours after injury and early interventions to temporarily control bleeding and correct coagulation have been shown to be most efficacious when rapidly deployed when some trauma systems moving blood transfusion into the prehospital domain. The logistics of blood component therapy outside of the controlled environment of a hospital presents challenges with the cold chain and traceability of blood. This talk will explore the latest evidence of prehospital blood component transfusion for major trauma haemorrhage and some of the challenges to implementation.