--- title: Only About 1% of EMS Units Carry Blood, Though 38 States Now Allow Field Transfusion description: Paramedics may transfuse whole blood in 38 states, yet about 1% of EMS units carry any. Tampa General plans to fly it to the scene by drone. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) updated: 2026-08-03T23:23:22.689Z canonical: https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/ems-units-whole-blood-drone-delivery-tampa image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/ems-whole-blood-delivery-drone-95600.webp categories: Longevity & Science content_type: News region: United States publication: Rich Health Magazine schema_type: Article --- When someone calls 911 for a person bleeding badly after a crash or a shooting, the crew that arrives can start an IV, pack a wound and radio ahead. In most of the country it will not be carrying blood. By the fall of 2024, 38 US states permitted EMS units to begin a transfusion in the field, according to the American College of Surgeons, and [only about 1% of EMS units nationally carry blood at all](https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2025/march-2025-volume-110-issue-3/improving-access-to-prehospital-blood-may-save-10-000-lives-a-year/). Tampa General Hospital wants to close that distance with a drone. ## Whole Blood Keeps for 35 Days, the Components That Replaced It for 50 Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under 45, and bleeding to the point of exsanguination is the leading cause of death within that group, the American College of Surgeons reported last year. Whole blood keeps for 35 days. The fractionated components that displaced it in routine practice last 50 days or more, and plasma can be frozen. That gap in shelf life is a large part of why component therapy became standard after the Vietnam War. A 2024 study of American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program data, covering 12,275 patients, found a 13% decrease in the odds of four-hour mortality for every 10% increase in the share of whole blood in a patient's total transfusion volume. A 2024 cohort study in JAMA Surgery found a 60% decrease in mortality at 24 hours among patients given whole blood early, as an adjunct to a larger transfusion of components, rather than after it. A 2021 study in the journal Transfusion linked prehospital whole blood to less intense shock on arrival at the emergency department, and lower mortality, than a comparison group who received no transfusion before hospital. The College published those findings under a plain estimate of the stake, that improving access to prehospital blood may save 10,000 lives a year. ## Tampa General Will Send the Blood by Drone Tampa General says its program will be the first in the country to pair EMS dispatch directly with drone delivery of prehospital whole blood. When a 911 call describes an incident with severe blood loss, dispatch sends responders to the scene, and those responders can call for a drone carrying whole blood at the same time. Crews can begin a transfusion on scene, before the patient reaches a hospital. > "The golden hour of trauma care has always started at the hospital door until now. This program puts whole blood directly into the hands of first responders before a patient ever reaches us, moving that critical window to the scene of the emergency itself." > — Michele Moran, senior vice president for emergency services, Tampa General Hospital The hospital is developing the program with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the Florida Center for Emergency Medical Services and OneBlood. Archer First Response Systems provides the drone logistics systems and services, and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue operates them. ## Two Fire Stations Will Cover 70 Square Miles The program will run out of two Hillsborough County Fire Rescue stations, Station 9 in the Faulkenburg and Sabal Park area and Station 37 in Riverview. Tampa General says those stations serve the parts of the county with the highest volume of penetrating trauma and hemorrhagic injuries. Two drone systems are expected to cover a combined 70 square miles and to reach a scene in under three minutes on average, on the hospital's figures. Chief Todd Carnell, rescue division chief of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said his crews are often first at the scene of an accident, and that the program puts an essential, lifesaving resource directly in their hands there. ## The Rule Being Waived Is About Seeing Other Aircraft Flying a drone to an emergency scene, potentially past the point where an operator can watch it, runs into 14 CFR 91.113. The rule requires that vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft. A small drone flown under Part 107 stays within visual line of sight, at or below 400 feet, because that is how the rule is met. Going further means having it waived. A public agency has two ways to fly at all. It can operate under Part 107, the small unmanned aircraft rule, for drones under 55 pounds. Or it can fly under the statutory provisions for public aircraft, which let an agency self-certify its aircraft and its operators through a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization for flights performing government functions. The FAA's [list of issued Part 91 waivers](https://www.faa.gov/uas/advanced_operations/part_91_waivers/waivers_issued) runs to 300 entries, and every one of them sets aside that see-and-avoid requirement. The earliest was issued on 6 April 2026 and the most recent on 23 July 2026. Seventeen of the 300 went to Florida agencies, among them the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on 7 April, the St. Petersburg Police Department, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Marion County Fire Rescue, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Recipients across the national list are overwhelmingly police departments, sheriff's offices and fire rescue agencies. ## The County Commission Takes Up the Plan on 2 September The technology is scheduled to come online in October 2026, subject to approval by the Hillsborough County Commission, whose board is scheduled to convene on the matter on 2 September. Tampa General says it intends to expand the program's capacity and coverage area over time, using data from the pilot. Dr Jason Wilson, chief of emergency medicine at Tampa General and founding chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, said that in traumas with hemorrhaging every minute matters, and that faster access to whole blood is a major predictor of a patient's likelihood of survival. Tampa General is a 1,530-bed not-for-profit academic health system and the only Level I trauma and comprehensive burn care center serving 23 counties. More on the hospital at [tgh.org](https://www.tgh.org). ## FAQ **Q: What is whole blood, and how does it differ from what most services carry?** Whole blood contains red cells, plasma and platelets together, rather than the separated components that most services stock. It keeps for 35 days, against 50 days or more for separated components, which is a large part of why component therapy became standard practice after the Vietnam War. **Q: If most states allow it, why do so few ambulances carry blood?** By the fall of 2024, 38 US states permitted EMS units to initiate blood transfusion in the field, according to the American College of Surgeons, and only about 1% of EMS units nationally carry blood. **Q: How would the drone be called out during an emergency?** When a 911 call describes an incident with severe blood loss, dispatch sends first responders to the scene, and those responders can call at the same time for a drone carrying whole blood. Crews can begin a transfusion at the scene before the patient reaches a hospital. **Q: What is the FAA waiver these flights depend on?** It is a waiver of 14 CFR 91.113, the federal rule requiring an aircraft operator to see and avoid other aircraft. Standard small-drone rules keep the aircraft within visual line of sight in order to satisfy that rule, so flying beyond it requires the waiver. **Q: When is the Tampa program due to start?** Tampa General expects the technology to come online in October 2026, subject to approval by the Hillsborough County Commission, which convenes on the matter on 2 September 2026.