Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake) announced that a bill she sponsored to permit air ambulances to carry blood and blood products and allow emergency medical technicians to administer them in flight when a patient requires such treatment has passed unanimously in the Assembly (A.2561-B).

“New York State is the last state in the nation to implement this critical measure for our EMS providers,” Said Assemblywoman Woerner. “In cases severe enough to require helicopter transport to a medical facility, it only makes sense that we should allow these health professionals to perform a transfusion in what could be a lifesaving window of time. When minutes matter, seconds can make a difference.”

The bill amends public health law to allow for air transport ambulances to store and distribute blood and blood products and to initiate and administer transfusions. The new section also sets forth the standards of care that air transport ambulances must adhere to when handling, storing and distributing the blood.

This bill would put New York on par with every other state and allow air ambulances to carry their own blood products and transfuse patients in hemorrhagic shock. These critical care medical providers, practicing in the unique health care environment of air ambulances, have an opportunity to save the lives of the citizens of New York and it’s imperative that they’re allowed to do just that, noted Woerner.