TUESDAY, Nov. 6, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Nearly 500 blood components were transfused in the first 24 hours following the Las Vegas shooting on Oct. 1, 2017, while more than 800 units of blood were donated in the immediate aftermath, according to a study published online Nov. 2 in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.
M. James Lozada, D.O., from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues obtained retrospective, deidentified data from all hospitals and blood banks providing care to Las Vegas shooting victims. They examined the amount and types of blood components transfused during the first 24 hours and the amount of blood donated to local blood banks following the Las Vegas shooting.
The researchers found that 220 patients required hospital admission, and 68 of these patients were admitted to critical care. During the first 24 hours, nearly 500 blood components were transfused in a red blood cell:plasma:platelet ratio of 1:0.54:0.81. Almost 800 units of blood were donated by public citizens immediately after the shooting; more than 17 percent of this blood was wasted.
“These events highlight the difficult balance officials must weigh in the aftermath of mass shooting incidents between blood availability and the public’s altruistic desire to donate,” the authors write. “Public officials should carefully consider initial statements, and public support for mass casualty event victims would be better redirected to donating blood routinely and acquiring training in hemorrhage control.”
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