Airlift Northwest/UW Medicine

Blood Management in Air Transport

Airlift Northwest/UW Medicine transports more than 4000 patients annually in the Pacific Northwest. Their treatment protocols include the administration of Blood Products for critically ill and traumatically injured patients. The acquisition, distribution, retrieval and return of blood products requires attention to a variety of factors in timing, temperature control and geographical distribution. To effectively manage and administer this part of the Airlift program requires process planning and execution that maintains the viability of the blood products in a dynamic environment. Improvements to the system of delivery would benefit patients and crews as well as positively impact the financial outcomes. The student team will work to review all the ancillary equipment related to managing blood products (cooler boxes, in aircraft spaces, on-base storage) as well as associated processes (i.e. temperature control) and provide a recommendation for improvement. They outcomes will be a set of feasibility studies and prototype tests to justify their recommendation for new temperature control equipment. There is also an industrial systems engineering student team working on evaluating and improving the overall process for procurement, distribution, utilization, and return of the blood products. The ISE and ME teams will collaborate to share insight to lead to effective, systems-level solutions.