Mobile County EMS Kicks Off Blood Transfusion Program Saving 3 Lives Immediately
By Dale Hines
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
May 29, 2026
MOBILE, AL. A new program in Mobile is already saving lives and proving that it works.
On Monday morning, the Mobile County EMS officially began carrying blood products on ambulances so that paramedics could immediately begin to administer blood to patients who were rapidly losing blood due to trauma, shootings or other emergencies.
This groundbreaking new program allows paramedics to administer blood before patients reach the hospital.
According to Mobile EMS, within just three and a half hours of deployment, crews performed their first transfusion in the field.
This is definitely a lifesaving measure that normally is done in a hospital setting but nationwide, we’re seeing that if paramedics can immediately start the resupplying of blood in their specialized ambulances, the patient’s outcome is usually much better, said emergency room doctor Frank Carter.
Mobile County EMS Training Manager Travis Burns said they deployed the service on Monday at 11 a.m. and in the first 36 hours we transfused three patients. Burns says he witnessed that first transfusion firsthand and watched the patient improve almost immediately.
The transfusions happen in specially equipped ambulances which are originally stocked with between two to three bags of blood and plasma and kept inside a cooler.
Local blood banks usually supply EMS systems with the blood.
Burns says the ability to begin blood replacement before arriving at the emergency room is something paramedics have wanted for years.
“As experienced paramedics and providers, we’ve all had patients that could have benefited from pre-hospital blood,” Burns said. “To be able to make that intervention at the scene and know we’re giving patients the best chance of survival — it’s impactful.”
Executive Director Mark Turner says Mobile County EMS has remained in contact with trauma surgeons and emergency physicians treating those patients after they arrived at the hospital.
He says those medical teams agree the pre-hospital transfusions played a critical role in helping save their lives.
“In my personal opinion, all three of the patients we’ve had so far would have died in the field without the administration of pre-hospital blood,” Burns added.
Mobile County EMS says the agency hopes the early success of the program could eventually lead to expansion to more ambulances in the future.
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