WILMINGTON, N.C. – The AirLink VitaLink critical care transport program has been authorized to administer Tranexamic Acid (TXA) to trauma patients with severe bleeding.

Dr. Heston Lamar, the service's medical director, told WECT that "the body can lose its ability to clot blood after a major traumatic injury. TXA works to restore that process and improve a patient's outcome of survival when used within three hours of the incident."

Since Dec. 1, TXA, prominently known for its use to treat wounded soldiers with severe bleeding, can be administered to patients in transport to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

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WECT talked to a spokesman for AirLink VitaLink Critical Care Transport team who explained, "Being able to take this drug [TXA] to the bedside and administer it there on scene to get the trauma center and ICU level care started earlier, the better off the patient outcomes are."

TXA has been administered inside the trauma centers for years. Recently, research on using TXA outside of the hospital was conducted.

Lamar said that tests showed TXA was highly effective in stabilizing patients before they arrived at the hospital. In addition to stocking TXA on the critical care helicopters and ambulances, the New Hanover Regional Medical Center is working on approval to stock county EMS ambulances with TXA.