WALB is working to produce a video for this story. In the meantime, we encourage you to watch our livestream.

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - A South Georgia hospital system announced a major advancement in the care it can now offer trauma patients on-scene of emergencies or onboard ambulance trips to the hospital.

SGMC Health EMS launched its prehospital blood transfusion program on Monday, March 30.

The new program makes use of SGMC’ Health’s Quick Response Vehicle (QRV). The QRV meets first responders and allows for the start of blood transfusions on patients with medically qualifying conditions before they arrive at the hospital.

The new procedure helps control hemorrhaging and enables the hospital to be prepared to advance patient care upon arrival at the emergency room.

“Life-threatening bleeding is one of the leading causes of preventable death in trauma, and time is our enemy,” said Emily Brown, EMS Chief and Director of Trauma for SGMC Health EMS. “By bringing blood directly to the patient, we are changing the trajectory of care before they ever arrive at the hospital. This program allows our teams to intervene sooner, work more efficiently with our public safety partners, and ultimately save lives.”

SGMC Health EMS offered training last week to more than 200 firefighters and EMS personnel on the prehospital blood transfusion program, instructing participants on the use of equipment and trauma response.

“This program reflects our commitment to providing the highest level of trauma care possible for our community,” Chief Brown said. “No single agency can do this alone. It’s the coordination between EMS, fire, law enforcement, and hospital staff that makes this program successful.”

SGMC Health studied other hospitals across Georgia that offer prehospital blood transfusions and found an 82% survival rate among patients receiving the trauma treatment.

“We got a lot of input from our EMS partners Northeast Georgia Health System, their EMS Service. Also, Grady EMS in Atlanta, we were able to get a lot of good information from them,” said Chief Brown. “I absolutely anticipate that 82% percent will increase over time once everybody is done gathering data and able to release some more specific papers and just the results of their studies.”

SGMC Health said its QRV is also able to meet its ambulances responding to calls in Lanier, Brooks and Echols counties to offer the prehospital blood transfusions when needed.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook and X (Twitter). For more South Georgia news, download the WALB News app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.