Blood Types

[HRH2009]

Earlier this week it was announced that the London Air Ambulances would be able to carry blood to give transfusions to injury victims.

How can the correct blood type be obtained ? Can blood types be tested, on the spot, with a hand held kit?

[mph1977]

it'll be Group O rhesus factor Negative same as the emergency blood that sits in the fridge in every Emergency Department, delivery suite and set of Operating theatres as this can be given to the vastest majority of patients ( i.e. unless you wierd and wonderful antibodies)

[The_Doc]

O -ve has the least likely hood of a transfusion reaction in a recipient whom you know nothing about. It has capability to carry oxygen, which is the principle job of red blood cells, and if you're about to die from haemorrhage then it's better than saline (basically water)

In hospital we can get type-specific blood pretty quickly ( A, AB, O etc) and this is what you go for when it's circulating-volume-on-the-floor time.

Full cross match can only take 30 mins in good hands, but unusual antibodies may mean the best matched blood is 2-3 hours away at a regional blood centre, which for me is Sheffield.

Will.
Trauma Surgeon

[HRH2009]

Thanks for your replies.

I had always assumed,incorrectly, that the correct blood type was essential.