KILLEEN, Texas — Killeen Fire EMS will now carry whole blood on its ambulances, allowing specially trained paramedics to provide blood transfusions to patients before they arrive at a trauma center. The department is the first fire-based EMS agency between Dallas and San Antonio to provide prehospital blood transfusions, according to KCEN. “When people are losing blood, they need to get to a trauma facility very quickly, but to bridge that care and improve their ability to survive, they need blood,” Colvin said. Unlike IV fluids, whole blood restores blood components lost during hemorrhage, including red blood cells, platelets and clotting proteins. As Central Texas grows, department leaders hope to expand the whole blood program to additional units.