'Valkyrie' Blood Transfusion System Hopes to Give Marines, Sailors Fighting Chance on the...

Front-line expeditionary forces are getting a new capability that officials say will save lives by enabling small units to have an emergency, on-demand, fresh blood supply to treat battlefield casualties.

The new capability – the Emergency Fresh Whole Blood program, or “Valkyrie,” as it’s known by Marines and sailors with the task force – is being used for the first time this year by conventional forces in the Middle East, according to the Marine Corps. Army units began using a similar program for the first time in Afghanistan earlier this year.

The idea behind Valkyrie “is to provide whole blood as a resuscitation fluid” and boost the chances of survival for casualties that are hemorrhaging, Lt. Lauren Murray, battalion surgeon with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines and a doctor of osteopathic medicine, told USNI News by phone from Kuwait. “It’s been used in the special operations community before, but this is the first time that we brought it out here as part of the conventional forces.”