When nearly a foot of snow fell across parts of North Carolina over the weekend, the winter weather not only made for tricky travel on the roads but also made getting critical medical supplies nearly impossible at one hospital in Greenville.
ECU Health in Pitt County faced a critical shortage of blood platelets on Sunday, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
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With a foot of snow on the ground, staff at The Blood Connection in Wake County were unable to make the 80-mile drive to restock.
ECU Health was relying on The Blood Connection to transport a supply on the ground.
"It was a wintery surprise to all of us," said Amber Fuller, Senior Director of Technical Services at The Blood Connection.
When staff realized they could not drive the platelets, they called on state authorities, who came up with another way to deliver.
By noon Sunday, North Carolina State Highway Patrol's Aviation Unit had taken off in its helicopter from Raleigh-Durham International Airport en route to Greenville. Troopers had the critical platelets onboard and delivered them to emergency officials just under an hour later.
"I've been with The Blood Connection [for] around five years, and this is my first experience with that," Fuller said. "The reality is that we think that everything just shuts down when this winter weather comes in and there are patients who are in the hospital -- trauma patients, cancer patients, surgery patients -- who still rely on this blood product, life-saving blood product."
In a statement to WRAL News, an ECU Health spokesperson said, "Because blood products like platelets have a short shelf life, we must maintain a specific amount of supply to avoid waste while ensuring patients’ needs are met."
NCSHP says ECU Health patients were able to receive access to the critical blood products without any delays.
"In those unforeseen circumstances, we'll continue to work with our ground courier as well as the emergency management teams to get those products where they need to go," said Fuller.
The last-minute response from the ground to the air ended with critical supplies being delivered after a major snowstorm.
Full statement from ECU Health:
“ECU Health is deeply grateful for the swift coordination and support from The Blood Connection, Pitt County Emergency Management, North Carolina Emergency Management and North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Because blood products like platelets have a short shelf life, we must maintain a specific amount of supply to avoid waste while ensuring patients’ needs are met. The rapid response from our partners ensured uninterrupted access to these lifesaving resources despite the winter weather. Our teams continually monitor conditions and work closely with state and regional partners to ensure contingency plans can be activated quickly whenever needed. We remain committed to ensuring safe, reliable care for all those we serve and appreciate the strong partnerships that help make that possible.”