A new pilot program enabling pre-hospital blood transfusions is now underway in Central Iowa, marking the first initiative of its kind in the state. The effort is a collaboration between the Des Moines Fire Department, West Des Moines EMS, MercyOne, UnityPoint Health, Lifeserve Blood Center and Simulation in Motion-Iowa, a news release said. Through the program, blood supplied by Lifeserve will be stored on district chief and supervisor EMS vehicles in Des Moines and West Des Moines to provide transfusions at the scene or during transport for trauma patients experiencing severe blood loss. EMS teams from Des Moines and West Des Moines trained this summer on scenarios involving blood transfusions using technology provided by Simulation in Motion-Iowa. “The sooner we can get blood to our patients, the better chance they have of surviving a traumatic incident when they arrive at the hospital,” Des Moines Fire Department Lieutenant Dan Davis said in a prepared statement. “We’re giving our crews an enormous new tool that they can use to save lives.”