Association of Prehospital Shock Index and Trauma Bay Uncrossmatched Red Blood Cell Transfusion With Multiple Transfusion.

Early resuscitation of bleeding trauma patients with multiple blood products improves outcome, yet transfusion initiation is not standardized. Shock index (heart rate/systolic blood pressure) and trauma bay uncrossmatched red blood cell (RBC) transfusion were evaluated for association with multiple transfusions, defined as 6 or more RBCs during the first 6 hrs of hospital presentation. A prehospital shock index of 1 was significantly associated with multiple transfusions (p = .02). Subjects receiving uncrossmatched RBCs required more RBCs during the first 6 hrs (10.3 units, p < .01). Consideration of these simple variables may help trauma nurses anticipate the potentially bleeding patient.