Are you familiar with the concept of oxygen debt or oxygen deficit?   What constitutes a “dose” of shock?  What systolic BP constitutes  hypotension on the battlefield?  Where did the concept of permissive  hypotension come from?  Is it still valid? How long can fresh whole  blood last? 

 Blood Transfusions were a huge topic at this year’s meeting in Charlotte  with no less than 3 major speakers giving multiple talks on the  subject.  This talk was recorded during the Prolonged Field Care  Pre-Conference Lab during the Special Operations Medicine and Scientific  Assembly (SOMSA).  

Dr. Geir Strandenes   is a founding member of the THOR (Tactical Hemostasis, Oxygenation, and  Resuscitation) Group, the Senior Medical Officer of the Norwegian Naval  Special Operations, and a Researcher in the Department of Immunology and  Transfusion Medicine at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen,  Norway.  He has worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Army Institute of  Surgical Research and the US Armed Forces Blood Program.  You can read  more about his research and other articles at www.RDCR.org.  Our PFC  working group has always gone to the THOR network with any blood  questions that we have, as they usually have an answer or best practice  already established.  I have included a link to the THOR/RDCR.org  publication page below along with other notable publications which he  helped to author such as the recently published JTS ISR Clinical  Practice Guideline on Damage Control Resuscitation and the Frequently  Asked Questions we sent to Geir and the THOR network over the last  couple years.   www.prolongedfieldcare.org