New Handheld Rapid Infuser (Ultra) for Warfighter Resuscitation at the Point of Injury

Uncontrolled hemorrhage remains the leading cause of preventable battlefield death and almost 90% of these deaths occur in the pre-hospital setting. To improve survival from life-threatening bleeding, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Guidelines for the treatment of hemorrhagic shock emphasize two patient care priorities: (1) immediate hemorrhage control (i.e., tourniquets, hemostatic dressings, administration of Tranexamic Acid), and (2) early resuscitation with whole blood, balanced ratio of blood products, freeze-dried plasma, or, when blood products are not available, IV fluid carefully titrated to minimally acceptable blood pressure (BP). The Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC) has identified non-compressible hemorrhage treatment and resuscitation strategies as a critical area of interest for future trauma care research and development. While significant progress has been made on techniques for achieving better hemostasis in hemorrhagic shock patients, no recent developments have focused on improving methods of blood transfusion or volume resuscitation, particularly for far-forward austere environments.  Traditional rapid infusers are too big and complex for the prehospital setting. Combat and transport medical personnel are left with suboptimal transfusion methods, including gravity and squeezing the blood bag, which limit the effectiveness of early trauma care. The ideal infuser for resuscitating patients in far-forward austere environments would be fast, ultra-compact, lightweight, and simple to set up and use in a chaotic environment. No currently available products or methods meet these requirements.  Development of LifeFlow Ultra is proposed to address this critical void.