TY - JOUR
T1 - Military Blood Supply and Distribution in USCENTCOM
AU - Hall, Andrew
AU - Olsen, Cara
AU - Comes, Ryan
AU - McDaniel, Steven
AU - Carrillo, Michael
AU - Wilson, Ramey
AU - Hanson, Matthew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - In expeditionary environments, the consistent availability of blood for casualty care is imperative yet challenging. Responding to evidence and the specific needs of its expeditionary context, the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) prioritized supplying stored low titer O whole blood (LTOWB) to its units from March, 2023 onward. A strategy was devised to set minimal LTOWB on-hand supply benchmarks, determined by the number of operating beds and point of injury teams. This transition led to a 54% reduction in orders for packed red blood cells. As a countermove, the Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) enhanced LTOWB production at a conversion rate 2:1 from packed red blood cell to LTOWB. Consequently, there was a decline in expired blood products, and fulfillment rates for blood requests are projected to reach 100% consistently. This paper delves into the intricacies of the expeditionary blood supply, the rationale behind the LTOWB transition, the devised allocation strategy, and the subsequent impacts of this change.
AB - In expeditionary environments, the consistent availability of blood for casualty care is imperative yet challenging. Responding to evidence and the specific needs of its expeditionary context, the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) prioritized supplying stored low titer O whole blood (LTOWB) to its units from March, 2023 onward. A strategy was devised to set minimal LTOWB on-hand supply benchmarks, determined by the number of operating beds and point of injury teams. This transition led to a 54% reduction in orders for packed red blood cells. As a countermove, the Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) enhanced LTOWB production at a conversion rate 2:1 from packed red blood cell to LTOWB. Consequently, there was a decline in expired blood products, and fulfillment rates for blood requests are projected to reach 100% consistently. This paper delves into the intricacies of the expeditionary blood supply, the rationale behind the LTOWB transition, the devised allocation strategy, and the subsequent impacts of this change.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202906491&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/milmed/usad493
DO - 10.1093/milmed/usad493
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38613451
AN - SCOPUS:85202906491
SN - 0026-4075
VL - 189
SP - 249
EP - 252
JO - Military Medicine
JF - Military Medicine
IS - 9-10
ER -