According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’Areth and the Israeli Defence Forces Medical Corps, soldiers may be able to carry dried bags of their own blood for emergency transfusions in the field.

“The idea is to take a soldier’s blood, freeze it in laboratory conditions, take out the ice crystals leaving only the blood components. It will look like freeze-dried coffee in a little bag,” said Lieutenant colonel Amir Blumenfeld, head of the IDF medical corps’ trauma unit.

Every soldier going to battle will receive a packet with his own freeze-dried blood as part of his mandatory personal kit, much like the staple personal bandage.

When necessary, if the soldier is wounded in battle and needs blood, a medic or doctor could take out the dried blood bag, mix it with physiological water and inject the soldier with a transfusion of his own blood.

I’m not sure if this is even possible or practical. The temperature extremes of combat life alone seems to be a big obstacle. If they can get the kinks worked out (especially by the two year deadline that they’re quoting) the ability to stock ambulances and wilderness paramedics with quality unmatched blood could change the face of shock management in the field forever.

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