Many trauma patients die on the way to the hospital due to loss of blood. The Mayo Clinic thinks it may have a solution to that problem in a new product called PolyHeme, but would like citizens in the Rochester, Minnesota area to approve of its use in ambulances and medical helicopters.

From the Grand Forks Herald:

The clinic is one of more than a dozen research institutions across the country seeking local approval to participate in the study before it starts. The study would involve emergency patients with life-threatening blood loss who would not be able to give consent to participate in advance.

Ambulances and emergency helicopters in the Rochester area would carry the product, called PolyHeme, instead of salt water, which is now the only option for those patients, said Dr. Andy Boggust, a Mayo emergency medical doctor who would head the study in Rochester.

I have very little medical knowledge, but I have read that salt water is not a very good solution for patients who have lost a lot of blood. Judging from that information, PolyHeme can't be much worse and has the potential to be much better.

If this were a decision being made in my area I'd be in favor of it. Not only will Mayo be able to judge PolyHeme's effectiveness as a replacement for lost blood but it may also save some lives. The only negative I can think of is that it may not work all that well, but since what EMT's are using now isn't working very well it isn't much of a negative.