The challenges of blood transfusion in remote settings are numerous and diverse.
In Australia the need for state & territory governments to provide all residents equitable access to public hospital services has particularly significant implications for highly regionalised states, including Queensland & Western Australia (WA).
WA, the largest state in Australia, covers 33% of the country or 2.5 million km2. Like other parts of Australia it is subject to regular tropical cyclones and temperature ranges of subzero to +50 0C. Extreme distances and weather conditions create logistical challenges for transportation of blood. As part of a health initiative supported by the Department of Health-WA, new blood transportation containers are in use across the state. This will provide the opportunity to minimise blood wastage and to implement programs like BloodMove operates in South Australia.
Much of the advances in transfusion medicine and blood product development have come from the military. Need for red cells, plasma and platelets to be available in remote areas creates many challenges but “old” and “new” products are equally applicable in civilian areas as in military operations and will assist in minimising the challenges of blood transfusion in remote settings.