Haaretz correspondent Dan Eban reports in today's printed Hebrew edition that IDF paramedic Staff Sgt. Alona Babliel made medical history last month when she used dry AB blood plasma to save the life of a Palestinian driver injured in a traffic accident in the Jordan Valley.
In the first use of dry plasma in the field in the world, the paramedic was able to stabilize the condition of the thirty year old Palestinian man who was suffering from massive abdominal bleeding so that he could be evacuated by an Israeli Air Force helicopter the Hadassah Hospital. The patient is now in good condition and he was recently released from Hadassah and returned home.
The dry negative AB plasma, that can be used by all blood types, has a room temperature shelf life of 15 months.