Offutt medic advances local lifesaving blood program

Lt. Col. Reynold Henry, 55th Medical Group trauma surgeon, who is embedded with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, is pictured in his scrubs during a shift at UNMC in Omaha, Nebraska, July 11, 2025. Henry advocated for a program where prehospital whole blood transfusions have been adapted into local medical emergency practices, which provides an additional lifesaving measure for paramedics. (U.S. Air Force photo by Daniel Martinez)

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Offutt medic advances local lifesaving blood program

An Autonomous Portable Refrigeration Unit, a cooling device used to maintain the safety and viability of donated blood, is shown on top of a gurney at a hospital located in Omaha, Nebraska, June 30, 2025. The APRU can safely store up to six 500 milliliter bags of blood for up to 72 days. (Courtesy photo)

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Offutt medic advances local lifesaving blood program

Lt. Col. Reynold Henry, 55th Medical Group trauma surgeon embedded with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, listens in as he and emergency medical crews are briefed about the prehospital whole blood transfusion program at a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, June 30, 2025. Henry advocated for the program based on his medical military combat experience. (Courtesy photo)

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Offutt medic advances local lifesaving blood program

Lt. Col. Reynold Henry, 55th Medical Group trauma surgeon embedded with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, is shown in an undated photo at an undisclosed deployed location. Henry introduced the concept of mobile ground-based blood transfusions to Omaha city officials and local emergency medical functionaries to incorporate it into local medical services. (Courtesy photo)

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Offutt medic advances local lifesaving blood program

Published Aug. 19, 2025
By Daniel Martinez
55th Wing Public Affairs

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --

When a servicemember in combat is injured with a life-threatening wound, which could otherwise be fatal due to blood loss, a transfusion while transferring the patient could save their life or buy enough time to transport them to a fully equipped medical facility for lifesaving care.

For Lt. Col. Reynold Henry, 55th Medical Group trauma surgeon, who was embedded with the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, applying the lessons he learned from the battlefield gave way to introducing the same ground based mobile blood transfusion concept to the local community.

Henry’s advocacy for the prehospital whole blood transfusion program led to the adaptation of this lifesaving capability for local emergency medical services where transfusions will be readily available.

“Essentially our ambulances are civilian ambulances here, so the Omaha Fire Department will carry blood in their ambulances, which is O-negative blood,” Henry explained as O-negative blood is the most compatible with other blood types. “If a patient is injured, let’s say 30 minutes ago, and they start getting blood within 10 or 15 minutes of that injury, that gives me extra time to tackle the injury before something terrible happens to them.”

With the introduction of the program, some emergency vehicles will have the means to carry and supply blood to victims suffering blood loss from their injuries. An Autonomous Portable Refrigeration Unit maintains the safety and viability of the blood based on the American Association of Blood Banks temperature standards of one degree to six degrees Celsius. This enables a victim to quickly receive a safe transfusion on scene or as they’re being transported to the hospital.

“When I came up with the idea of building this program, we really carefully looked at the math,” Henry said. “We looked out to see how many patients would have benefitted from this blood in the last five years, and we found that a conservative estimate was probably about 150 patients who could have used it and could have lived if we had this program. Purely by the math it’s apparent that we could have saved lives if we had this program, and using those numbers, it’s how we kind of figured out how much [blood] we’re going to need.”

Residents are already experiencing the benefits of the program. It officially began on June 30 and was used for the first time on July 4 to help a gunshot victim. In the following days, two more units of blood were used to help other victims. Henry said that they underestimated the amount of blood that was needed, but more blood will be circulated as the program evolves.

Omaha is the first city in the state of Nebraska to provide prehospital transfusions, making it one of the 160 departments throughout the nation to provide this service. The transfusions can take place anywhere within the Omaha city limits. Four different ambulances stationed throughout the four quadrants of the city will be equipped to carry the emergency blood supply.

“Basically, if you get into a car wreck out west or up in North Omaha, or something happens to you in South Omaha, there is a good chance of being in an ambulance that has the blood they can give to you,” Henry said. “A lot of people assume that ambulances just carry blood because it makes common sense, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. About 99 percent of people here in the United States don’t have an ambulance nearby that carries blood. So, Omaha gets to be part of that one percent, but we want that to be a much higher number.”

Henry began championing the program in April 2024. A partnership between Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Community Blood Bank, and the Omaha Fire Department set the initiative into motion. Funding was put into place by the city and protocols were developed to bring Henry’s vision into fruition. According to Henry, similar programs have been instituted around the country by other service members who have also encountered wartime injuries where mobile transfusions saved lives.

For some emergency service providers, this program will provide medics with a tool that could increase the likelihood of saving lives and providing better medical care during crucial times.

“It just makes sense, and I think it will have a positive impact on the community and certainly the patients that receive the blood will have shorter hospital stays and faster healing,” said Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman as reported by Greta Goede from KMTV 3 News Now.

Henry said one of the most important things to keep this program going is to ensure that the supply meets the demand.

“I think the most important takeaway from this is that we need blood to give people blood,” he said. “If you have the opportunity to donate, please donate. That benefits not only our active-duty brothers and sisters downrange, but also people back home that might get into a car wreck or have something unfortunate happen to them."