On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, the County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LACoFD) launched the Los Angeles Development and Rapid Operationalization of Prehospital Blood (LA-DROP) pilot program in the Cities of Gardena, Hawthorne, and Lawndale and unincorporated communities of Del Aire and El Camino Village. The LA-DROP pilot program enables paramedics to deliver life-saving blood transfusions directly to trauma patients before they reach the hospital.
On April 21, 2025, the City of Carson, along with the unincorporated communities of Rancho Dominguez and Willowbrook will join the LA-DROP pilot program, with the City of Inglewood and unincorporated communities of Athens-Westmont and Lennox joining April 25, 2025.
The LA-DROP prehospital blood transfusion pilot program is a partnership between the LACoFD, City of Compton Fire Department, Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and San Diego Blood Bank committed to establishing the first safe and sustainable prehospital blood program in Los Angeles County. Through strategic partnerships and a robust community-driven blood donor network, LA-DROP aims to reduce preventable deaths and strengthen Los Angeles’ emergency medical response system with innovative prehospital care.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, who represents the Second District and helped advocate for this program shared, “I am proud to support this pilot program in our district that faces high rates of emergency incidents where access to blood before reaching the hospital is a matter of life or death. I look forward to more lives being saved.”
“The LA-DROP prehospital blood transfusion pilot program underscores the LACoFD’s ongoing commitment to enhancing trauma response and delivering critical care to patients in need, before they reach the hospital,” said Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone. “By integrating this advanced capability, the LACoFD is one of few agencies Statewide to utilize this innovative life-saving protocol, with the goal to significantly improve patient outcomes.”
In December of 2024, the County of Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Commission awarded the LACoFD a $380,000 Productivity Investment Fund grant to fund this innovative and critically needed two-year pilot program.
A press conference will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., at LACoFD Fire Station 21 to share the launch of the LA-DROP pilot program.
To learn more about the LA-DROP prehospital blood transfusion pilot program, click here.
