Question

Trauma alert PROCEDURES

1. Notify the EMS Communications Specialist that you have a patient meeting trauma alert criteria.
2. When activating a Trauma Alert, the following information must be provided to 911-Dispatch:
a. Patient's gender and approximate age
b. The specific Trauma Alert Criterion that pertains to your patient
c. Mechanism of injury
d. Estimated time prior to arrival at the ED. (Include packaging and transport time)
3. 911-Dispatch will contact Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital Transfer Center, (409) 899-7888 and provide the above Trauma Alert information.
4. Cancellation of Trauma Alert:
a. Beaumont EMS paramedic
b. Cancellation must go through 911-Dispatch; dispatch will notify the hospital.
c. Can ONLY be cancelled while on scene.
5. All Trauma Alerts including cancellation must be documented in the ePCR.

Answer 1

In emergencies with no time to determine blood type, O negative blood is used for transfusion because it's a universal donor type and compatible with all recipients.

Step-by-step explanation:

Following a motor vehicle accident, when a patient is brought into the emergency department with multiple traumatic injuries requiring immediate blood transfusion, and there's no time to determine the patient's blood type, the type of blood transfused is typically O negative. This is because O negative blood is considered the universal donor type, which means it can be accepted by individuals of any blood type without causing an adverse reaction. The urgent need to control severe bleeding and stabilize the patient's condition makes the immediate availability and compatibility of O negative blood critical.