Victoria Fire Dept. Adds Life-Saving SBTC Program

Is your blood type O-positive? If so, South Texas Blood & Tissue Center needs you to help save lives.

The Victoria Fire Department is partnering with the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center to promote a life-saving program for victims of trauma.

The Brothers in Arms campaign seeks to encourage men with blood type O-positive to make a quarterly donation of blood. Type O-positive blood is usable for patients with any blood type in emergency situations.

Beginning October 15, the Victoria Fire Department emergency medical responders will be able to transfuse whole blood in the field, and the life-saving step dramatically will improve survival rates for victims of trauma.

Fire Chief Tracy Fox says the Victoria Fire Department is one of the first cities in the nation to implement the system.

Although Brothers in Arms is seeking blood type O-positive from men, donations also can be received by almost any patient.

The whole blood transfusion protocols are based on research done in the military which shows an up to 25% decrease in mortality rates for those with traumatic injuries according to Linda Rapp, Executive Director of Blood Operations at STBTC.

At the Brothers in Arms kickoff, Mayor Pro Tempore Josephine Solis told the gathered community and health care professionals that the blood transfusion program puts the City of Victoria at the forefront in transforming trauma care nationwide.