Iraq and Afghan Wars: The Belmont Rapid Infuser
When a soldier experiences massive trauma, every second counts. The Belmont Rapid Infuser, developed by Belmont Instrument Corp. in Billerica, MA, has been used for massive blood transfusions in war zones globally and is credited in helping to save thousands of lives.
Prior to this technology, it was not possible to warm and infuse fast enough to resuscitate patients. The Belmont is the recognized standard of care for massive transfusion in the military and leading trauma centers and hospitals globally. The Belmont Rapid Infuser uses inductive heating technology that allows for blood or fluids to be warmed in seconds. It can infuse at rates of up to 1 liter per minute while helping to avoid complications such as hypothermia, air embolism, and vessel trauma.
With the use of the Belmont Rapid Infuser, many trauma patients without a pulse were able to be resuscitated by a physician or medic.
Lessons learned by military physicians and medics are now being applied in emergency rooms, operating rooms, and labor and delivery departments and other situations where massive blood loss occurs. These lessons are now saving mothers that experience obstetric hemorrhage which is the leading cause of maternal death.
In one case at a hospital in Texas, a woman required over 35 gallons of blood to be infused during a massive hemorrhage post-birth. The manufacturer says she may not have survived without the use of the Belmont Rapid Infuser.
