Apparently, the Presidential limousine has a compartment that stores pre-crossmatched blood, just in case.
How necessary is this, considering the fact that a designated emergency department will never be far off for the President?
And in case the unforeseen happens, is transfusing blood in the field the best option for fluid resuscitation, rather than simply giving intravenous saline or crystalloid?
If anything, emergency physician Shadowfax writes, when the President makes it to a hospital, having blood already handy means there won’t be the normal delay to type and crossmatch before transfusion.
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Hahaha, talk about a “presidential perk.”
I love the blog Dr. Kevin! And congratulations on receiving the best med blog of ‘08. Well deserved.
I just wrote a little piece (http://medmarg.blogspot.com/2009/01/ultimate-house-call.html) about the presidential physician, and nobody told me about no blood in no car. That doesn't seem practical, somehow, but what do I know? I could see blood on Air Force One. I could see having it typed & crossed at choice DC hospitals, and any town the president might be visiting. If the president were going free-wheeling around rural West Virginia or something in the Beast, then maybe taking along your blood might not be crazy. But all the time? Good O negative ain't that hard to find.
Were I president I'd just travel with IV coffee.
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