Prehospital blood product availability and use across Australia

Timely transfusion of blood products can be critical for patients with major haemorrhage. However, ready access to blood products is limited when severe bleeding occurs outside of the hospital setting. What’s more, the type of prehospital products available varies between ambulance and other retrieval services across the country. In this project you will conduct and analyse a survey of blood products available and carried by different services within each state, to form a picture of prehospital transfusion capability across Australia. The results will be highly informative for future clinical trials evaluating prehospital treatment options for critical bleeding. The project will be conducted as part of the NHMRC Blood Synergy program (Addressing Australia’s National Transfusion Research Priorities), and supported by the Transfusion Research Unit in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, in collaboration with Ambulance Victoria. The student will gain clinical knowledge of transfusion medicine and paramedicine, and develop skills in qualitative research.