CEGA Air Ambulance has invested in a bespoke state-of-the-art blood storage system, enabling it to carry out air transfers for critically ill patients that are in need of blood transfusions.

CEGA's use of Cool Logistics' thermal carrier units for the transport of blood and blood products allows its air ambulance crews to store and transport blood at a stable temperature for up to 144 hours and, if necessary, to give patients mid-flight blood transfusions – wherever they are in the world.

"CEGA is one of the first fixed wing air ambulance providers to use these thermal carrier units. It extends our critical care transfer service to patients who would in the past have had to break their flight if they needed a blood transfusion, or not have been able to fly at all," says CEGA's chief medical officer Dr Tim Hammond.

"Having access to an in-flight blood bank will allow us to carry out potentially life-saving action on the longest of flights and in the most remote of locations, enhancing our seamless aeromedical care," concludes Dr Hammond.