AN international trauma expert who helped doctors administer a synthetic blood to a Victorian woman on the verge of death said The Alfred hospital had set a new standard of care.

Prof Colin Mackenzie of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Faculty Shock Trauma Centre said it was a "remarkable save, a pioneering effort".

Tamara Coakley received the haemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, called HBOC-201 after suffering severe blood loss in a car crash last October.

It was the first reported case of the synthetic blood reversing cardiac hypoxia and anaemia in a trauma patient.

The product restored the level of haemoglobin in her blood, which carries oxygen to the tissues.

"They are to be heartily congratulated. The citizens of Melbourne should be rightly proud of this world standard-setting medical outcome," Prof Mackenzie said.

"It was pioneering because The Alfred synthesised all previous efforts at use of this product in such extreme anaemia, and they got everything right."

The drug maker picked up the tab for the product, which contained a molecule from cow's blood.

Ms Coakley, 33, was unable to accept a whole blood transfusion because of her religious beliefs.

Originally published as Synthetic blood hailed as lifesaver