USU Researchers Investigate Freeze-Dried Plasma’s Use in Military Combat Casualty Care
By Christopher Austin
The Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration recently launched a joint program to prioritize the efficient development of safe and effective medical products intended to save the lives of American military personnel. One such product being reviewed is freeze-dried plasma.
Army Maj. (Dr.) Grigory Charny, an assistant professor in the USU Department of Military and Emergency Medicine (MEM), is working with Army Maj. (Dr.) Steven Schauer, an assistant professor in MEM, and 2nd Lt. Sarah Mongold, a second-year student in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at USU, to perform a case series with the Institute of Surgical Research on six of the more than 20 recorded cases where freeze-dried plasma has been used on U.S. service members.
Freeze-dried plasma was used by the U.S. military as early as World War II and continued through the Korean War, according to Charny. Its use was abandoned because there were repeated hepatitis outbreaks; early screening techniques were not as effective as they are now.
By dehydrating plasma and reducing it to a powder, it can be kept fresh at a variety of temperatures and quickly reconstituted with distilled water to treat a wounded patient.
“Multiple things go into whether or not something can be used in the field. Is it temperature-stable? It has to be something that can work in the cold mountains of Afghanistan or the deserts of Iraq,” said Schauer. “It has to be tightly packed, lightweight, something that you can do with gloves on and in low light.”
Freeze-dried plasma could also be a useful tool in wilderness medicine, allowing medical providers to more readily transport life-saving plasma to wounded individuals in an austere or remote setting, according to the researchers.
“Getting blood and blood products to our casualties on the front lines continues to be a logistical difficulty for military medical providers,” said Mongold. “The possibility of using freeze-dried plasma is one consideration in attempting to provide the most cutting-edge, effective care for patients. While we are focusing at this time on freeze-dried plasma for combat casualties, maybe in the future it will have a role in the civilian setting as well.”
The Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration recently launched a joint program to prioritize the efficient development of safe and effective medical products intended to save the lives of American military personnel. One such product being reviewed is freeze-dried plasma.
Army Maj. (Dr.) Grigory Charny, an assistant professor in the USU Department of Military and Emergency Medicine (MEM), is working with Army Maj. (Dr.) Steven Schauer, an assistant professor in MEM, and 2nd Lt. Sarah Mongold, a second-year student in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at USU, to perform a case series with the Institute of Surgical Research on six of the more than 20 recorded cases where freeze-dried plasma has been used on U.S. service members.
Freeze-dried plasma was used by the U.S. military as early as World War II and continued through the Korean War, according to Charny. Its use was abandoned because there were repeated hepatitis outbreaks; early screening techniques were not as effective as they are now.
By dehydrating plasma and reducing it to a powder, it can be kept fresh at a variety of temperatures and quickly reconstituted with distilled water to treat a wounded patient.
“Multiple things go into whether or not something can be used in the field. Is it temperature-stable? It has to be something that can work in the cold mountains of Afghanistan or the deserts of Iraq,” said Schauer. “It has to be tightly packed, lightweight, something that you can do with gloves on and in low light.”
Freeze-dried plasma could also be a useful tool in wilderness medicine, allowing medical providers to more readily transport life-saving plasma to wounded individuals in an austere or remote setting, according to the researchers.
“Getting blood and blood products to our casualties on the front lines continues to be a logistical difficulty for military medical providers,” said Mongold. “The possibility of using freeze-dried plasma is one consideration in attempting to provide the most cutting-edge, effective care for patients. While we are focusing at this time on freeze-dried plasma for combat casualties, maybe in the future it will have a role in the civilian setting as well.”