Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (AD-113) joined Senator Michelle Hinchey (SD-46), in passing the Public Health Bill A5789-A and S6226-A in both houses. This legislation provides that ambulance services and advanced life support first response services may store and distribute blood and may initiate and administer blood transfusions. Legislators stressed that A5789-A and S6226-A are critical for rural and upstate New York and will save lives.

Allowing ambulance crews to store and distribute human blood products at their base, corrects outdated New York statutes that require them to function and be regulated as a blood bank. Prehospital blood transfusion for severe trauma patients is rapidly becoming the standard of care in high performance EMS systems across the nation. San Antonio, Austin, Washington DC, Atlanta, and New Orleans are just a few of the many places where whole blood is available on ambulances for transfusion at trauma scenes.

Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner said, “This new legislation follows the successful implementation of a similar bill for air ambulances which was signed into law in 2021. Right now, if a person in New York experiences a severe illness or injury, such as a life-threatening car accident, they are not able to receive a transfusion until they arrive at a hospital, unless they’re transported by air ambulance. In these cases, it makes sense to allow a transfusion in what could be a lifesaving window of time.”

Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “In emergencies, every second counts. For severe trauma cases requiring blood transfusions, EMS providers need the ability to provide that care in order to save lives on the spot and during transport. Our bill would finally allow ground ambulances to offer this care, ensuring that traumatically injured patients can receive transfusions before they arrive at the hospital. I thank Assemblymember Carrie Woerner for her partnership on this bill and urge the Governor to sign it into law.”