SWiFT Canada (Study of Whole Blood in Frontline Trauma)

Early blood transfusion improves survival in patients with life-threatening bleeding, but the optimal transfusion strategy in the prehospital setting has yet to be established. Although there is some evidence of benefit with the use of Whole Blood (WB), there have been no RCTs exploring the clinical effectiveness of prehospital administration of WB versus component therapy for bleeding trauma patients in the Canadian setting. The lack of high-quality clinical evidence is recognized in the recent NAC recommendations for the use of WB in Canada.

In collaboration with the SWiFT UK team, the SWiFT Canada study will follow the SWiFT UK protocol but as adopted for the Canadian context. This may allow for future comparisons on effectiveness of the two systems and pilot the ability for two countries with different prehospital systems to be able to follow a similar study protocol for future international RCTs.

Lastly, we have confirmed the support from CBS for the manufacturing and distribution of WB for the duration of the SWiFT Canada trial. Therefore, it is essential for patients, healthcare professionals and blood services that the clinical effectiveness of prehospital WB transfusion is evaluated in a trial before its widespread implementation across CBS in Canada. A national program of WB production would necessitate significant changes in the current manufacturing processes for blood services, in order to provide appropriate support for hospitals. WB production could potentially affect the supply of blood components required to treat other patients, as a unit of WB cannot be used to manufacture other components. However, it could also be argued that early transfusion of WB may reduce the need for further blood component transfusion when patients arrive at hospital, due to earlier control of bleeding. Following the proposed objectives of this pilot RCT would enable us to evaluate all these uncertainties and assist in the planning of a future larger RCT.

Inclusion criteria

• Patient who has suffered a traumatic injury
• Attended by a participating Ornge AAS clinical team
• Requires prehospital blood transfusion to treat major traumatic hemorrhage

Exclusion criteria

• Pediatric (age <16 or transported to pediatric trauma centre [if age unknown])
• No intravenous or intraosseous access (should be assessed prior to opening box)
• Knowledge that patient will object to being given blood transfusion for any reasons
• Blood already administered on-scene, prior to arrival of the participating Ornge AAS