Life Plasma, with Pottstown Facility, Helps Launch Blood Transfusion on Ambulances

READING PA – Reading-based Life Plasma Inc., which operates a blood center at 223 Shoemaker Rd. Ste. 171D in Pottstown, has collaborated with paramedics to launch a pre-hospital blood transfusion program in nearby Delaware County, it reported Saturday (Nov. 14, 2026).

It created the program in cooperation with Upper Darby Paramedic Rescue, Life Plasma said in an accompanying media release.

The effort makes packed O-positive red blood cells, along with liquid plasma, available on Upper Darby ambulances. The blood products are ready for potential administration to patients who experience severe bleeding due to trauma or gastrointestinal problems.

Life Plasma collects the products – including blood, plasma, platelets, and other blood components – from donors. The Pottstown facility is a blood-only collection center, its Facebook page states.

Its goal, the company added, is to help prevent hemorrhagic shock that could occur before patients arrive at a hospital.

That aim was reached Nov. 9 (Monday), only 10 hours after blood was placed in an Upper Darby ambulance. Its EMS team administered one unit of blood to a patient afflicted by a “severe” gastrointestinal bleed, Upper Darby Township officials confirmed.

Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash+, used under license

Lowering Mortality Rates

Pre-hospital blood transfusions performed by EMS professionals lower mortality rates by 37% for trauma patients with severe bleeding, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. In severe bleeding cases, it noted, every minute of delay in a transfusion increases a trauma victim’s risk of death by 11%.

Upper Darby’s EMS teams received approval for the project from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, and the Delaware County Regional EMS Office, in early October. The teams serve Upper Darby Township and Collingdale Borough in Delaware County.

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