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Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz are studying whether drones can deliver freeze-dried plasma to critically injured patients when conventional transportation cannot get them to a hospital quickly enough. The research, currently underway in Ukraine, has delivered the blood product to medical teams treating severely injured military personnel.
The concept represents a potential shift in emergency medicine.
“When a critically injured patient cannot get to the medical system quickly enough, how can you bring a critical part of that system to the patient? What we're trying to do is see if we can feasibly get blood products to individuals at their point of injury as opposed to waiting to get someone from the front line to a hospital,” said Corey Bills, MD, associate professor in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and a lead researcher on the project.
For decades, emergency medical teams have relied primarily on whole blood and conventional plasma products. Fresh frozen plasma must be kept frozen and thawed before it can be administered, creating logistical challenges outside hospitals.
Freeze-dried plasma offers another possibility. Removing the water allows the product to be stored at room temperature and rapidly prepared for use when needed. The FDA has described dried plasma as potentially useful in battlefields, remote locations and other challenging settings.
From the battlefield to the disaster zone
The current research is taking place in Ukraine, where conventional evacuation can be difficult or delayed. Freeze-dried plasma, donated by global pharmaceutical company Octapharma, is packaged for transport and carried by drone to medical teams operating close to where patients are injured.
The broader application could ultimately extend beyond warzones.
“The world is changing in ways that require a rethink of how emergency care is delivered when traditional methods are impossible,” said Flemming Nielsen, Board Member at Octapharma and President of Octapharma USA. “Using drones to deliver emergency trauma and wound care in hard-to-reach places can reduce dependency on centralized supply and evacuation systems, and more importantly, help limit preventable deaths. We are proud to partner with CU Anschutz and the Ukrainian military on these efforts to build resilient critical care strategies for the future.”
“Emergencies don't always happen within easy reach of a hospital. A wildfire can close roads, a hurricane or flood can isolate a community, and an earthquake can damage the roads and bridges needed to get patients to care,” said Bills. “A serious accident in a remote area can leave someone hours from a trauma center, while a mass-casualty event can overwhelm ambulances and hospitals. When a patient is losing blood, those delays can become a matter of life and death.”
The drone is not intended to replace traditional evacuation. Instead, it could provide another way to get a critical medical resource to a patient while conventional transportation is still trying to reach them.
“Resuscitating critically injured and bleeding patients is time-sensitive. Before the bleeding can be stopped surgically, rapidly providing blood products is the first line of defense that can be lifesaving. It gives the patient enough support to buy time to reach definitive care and maintains blood flow to vital organs to prevent irreversible damage,” said Adit Ginde, MD, MPH, senior associate dean for clinical research and professor of emergency medicine at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and also a lead researcher on the project.
Early findings
The first 26 patients studied were Ukrainian military personnel injured in combat, most with blast-related injuries and significant hemorrhage. Each received at least one unit of freeze-dried plasma.
The team observed a significant improvement in the patients' shock index, a measure based on heart rate and blood pressure that can indicate clinical instability, after the plasma was administered. The 24-hour survival rate was 100% among the 26 patients studied.
Researchers note that these preliminary findings do not establish that the plasma itself caused the improvement. The study is observational and outcomes in severely injured patients are influenced by many factors.
The team plans to continue collecting clinical data, with a goal of studying over 100 patients, to better understand which patients and types of trauma are most likely to benefit from early access to freeze-dried plasma.
While the current research is taking place in a warzone, the potential applications extend beyond the battlefield.
“We’ve spent years learning how to keep wounded service members alive when the hospital is far away, and almost everything we’ve learned has ended up helping civilians. This is the same pattern. If a drone can put plasma in a medic’s hands hundreds of miles from a blood bank, it can do the same for a paramedic on a mountain road,” said Vik Bebarta, MD, who chairs the Department of Emergency Medicine and founded the CU Anschutz Combat Medicine Research Center.
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Key Points
- Drones delivered freeze-dried plasma to critically injured patients.
- Patients showed improved shock index after receiving plasma.
- All 26 patients survived to 24 hours, though the study cannot determine whether plasma caused the improvement.
- Researchers are studying its potential use when traditional medical transport is delayed.
