We throw around the expression, "It's a matter of life and death," so frequently that the words can lose their impact. However, when you talk to trauma and transplant surgeons at the University of Washington Hospital and Seattle Children's Hospital about the consequences of not having enough blood on hand for critical surgeries - that's exactly what they'll tell you. It's literally a matter of life and death, especially with a summer holiday weekend like July 4th approaching, when emergency rooms typically see an increase in trauma cases rushing in.
On this episode of Bloodworks 101, producer John Yeager spoke with two noted local surgeons, Dr. Jorge Reyes and Dr. Saman Arbabi about the importance of having an adequate blood supply for the life and death decisions they have to make every single day.