WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Every fire department in Milwaukee County will soon have a new resource that could make the difference between life and death for trauma patients.

They are not your typical Igloo coolers by any stretch of the imagination. In Wauwatosa, the fire department’s ambulance now has one connected to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular because they’re carrying and tracking something new: blood.

When you climb into the back of a Wauwatosa Fire Department ambulance, you’d never notice its newest feature: a cooler that stores two units of type O-positive blood at just above freezing temperatures.

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“We’re the first fire-based EMS system in the State of Wisconsin to do this, so we’re pretty excited,” Wauwatosa Deputy Fire Chief Barbara Kadrich said. “We carry blood because we never know how long it will take to get the injured patient to the hospital.”

This is part of a pilot project for trauma patients through the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.

Dr. Ben Weston is Chief Medical Director.

“When people experience traumatic hemorrhagic shock — which means they’ve lost so much blood and they’re in critical condition — what they really need is blood,” Weston said.

Fluids help equalize the patient’s pressures so blood can flow to the organs.

Soon, when any of the county’s 14 fire departments respond to a trauma call, these trained paramedics and EMTs will now be able to act as an extension of a trauma-trained hospital by providing “whole blood” transfusions to those patients rather than the traditional IV.

Studies show it can increase survival by more than 80%.

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“We will bring to the field what patients need, and ultimately this program will save lives,” Weston said.

And not just here; UW Health currently uses whole blood on its medical flight helicopter in Dane County, and Dr. Ryan Newberry said the benefits are already starting to show.

“The reality is there is a lot of distance to transport these patients and time is of the essence,” he said. “And so, the more we can transfer care to where you are with setting up a trauma center, the more we can start care where you are, which allows us to start treating you there.”

In Wauwatosa, the fire department said it will store blood for about seven to nine days. If it is not used they will bring it back to the hospital to be replaced. The “old blood” then becomes the first blood to be used in the hospital, so nothing is wasted.