• Marshall Bahr, Andrew P Cap, Devin Dishong, and Mark H Yazer.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Allegheny Health Network, 320 E. North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
• Mil Med. 2020 Aug 14; 185 (7-8): e1032-e1038.

IntroductionPrehospital care in the combat environment has always been of great importance to the U.S. military, and trauma resuscitation has remained a cornerstone. More evidence continues to demonstrate the advantages of intervention with early transfusion of blood products at the point of injury. The military has recognized these benefits; as such, the Department of Defense Joint Trauma System and the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care have developed new advanced resuscitation guidelines, which now encourage the use of whole blood (WB) in the prehospital setting.Materials And MethodsThis general review of peer-reviewed journal articles was performed through an extensive electronic search from the databases of PubMed Central (MEDLINE) and the Cochrane Library.ResultsBased on this literature search, the current evidence suggests that transfusion with WB is safe and efficacious. Additionally, soldier function is preserved after donating fresh WB in the field. Currently, the collection and implementation of WB is accomplished through several different protocol-driven techniques.ConclusionWB has become the favored transfusion product as it provides all of the components of blood in a convenient package that is easy to store and transport. Specifically, group O WB containing low titers of anti-A and -B antibodies has become the transfusion product of choice, offering the ability to universally fluid resuscitate patients despite not knowing their blood group. This new ability to obtain low titer group O WB has transformed the approach to the management of hemorrhagic shock in the prehospital combat environment.© Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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