olleagues at Salford Royal supported ground-breaking trial into whole blood transfusions in trauma care, with the results now published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The SWiFT study was led by NHS Blood and Transplant and was carried out thanks to funding and support from 10 air ambulance services in England, including North West Air Ambulance. Consultant Dr Scott Beattie from emergency and prehospital medicine was the principal investigator for Salford, where 24 patients were recruited. Follow up and trial governance was managed by the acute research delivery team and our Centre for Emergency Care and Trauma.
Half of the patients in the study with major traumatic haemorrhage received whole blood – containing red blood cell, platelets and plasma – instead of the usual mix of different individual units of red blood cells and plasma. Whole blood has been of particular interest to Air Ambulance teams because it is easier to transport and transfuse a single product than several products.
The results did not show an improvement in survival, but the research – which saw 900 people randomised into the trial over two years – provided vital evidence in an area of growing interest.
Whole blood transfusion has recently gained favour in trauma care, partly due to military experience in Afghanistan. However, data from large clinical trials has been lacking until now.