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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES, CA – 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. Additional cities and unincorporated communities will be added later in April. The LA-DROP pilot program enables paramedics to deliver life-saving blood transfusions directly to patients before they reach the hospital.
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 emergency medical services 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.”
A press conference will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., at LACoFD Fire Station 21, located at 4312 West 147th Street, in the City of Lawndale, to announce the launch of the LA-DROP pilot program.
To learn more about the LA-DROP prehospital blood transfusion pilot program, click here.
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