Expanding Prehospital Blood in Rural America: Leveraging Rural Health Transformation Funding
Prehospital blood programs are particularly important to rural communities who are often significant distances from trauma centers, increasing the transport time of patients to definitive care after critical incidents, such as motor vehicle crashes. But starting and maintaining these programs can be costly and resource-dependent. Small rural agencies often turn to state and federal grants for assistance.
In September 2025, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a grant funding opportunity through the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.
This $50 billion initiative aims to help states transform rural healthcare. A goal of the RHT program is to spark the growth of innovative care models (such as prehospital blood) to improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and promote flexible care arrangements. Funding allocations to all 50 states were announced on December 29.
New Castle-Henry County EMS in eastern Indiana is one agency covering a rural area that is seeking to use a portion of the grant funds to expand its prehospital blood program (which was launched with a community foundation grant in 2024) to cover a 10-county region in the state.
In this webinar, Justin Harrison, NRP, assistant chief of New Castle-Henry County EMS, will discuss the journey of his agency’s prehospital blood program to date, and share how his agency is hoping to expand the program via funding acquired through the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Topic outline
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CompletionStudents mustView
Prehospital blood programs are particularly important to rural communities who are often significant distances from trauma centers, increasing the transport time of patients to definitive care after critical incidents, such as motor vehicle crashes. But starting and maintaining these programs can be costly and resource-dependent. Small rural agencies often turn to state and federal grants for assistance.
In September 2025, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a grant funding opportunity through the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program.
This $50 billion initiative aims to help states transform rural healthcare. A goal of the RHT program is to spark the growth of innovative care models (such as prehospital blood) to improve health outcomes, coordinate care, and promote flexible care arrangements. Funding allocations to all 50 states were announced on December 29.
New Castle-Henry County EMS in eastern Indiana is one agency covering a rural area that is seeking to use a portion of the grant funds to expand its prehospital blood program (which was launched with a community foundation grant in 2024) to cover a 10-county region in the state.
In this webinar, Justin Harrison, NRP, assistant chief of New Castle-Henry County EMS, will discuss the journey of his agency’s prehospital blood program to date, and share how his agency is hoping to expand the program via funding acquired through the Rural Health Transformation Program.
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Justin Harrison
Assistant Chief
New Castle-Henry County EMS
Matt BlankleyBusiness Operations ManagerDistrict 6 Hospital Preparedness Planning Committee -
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CompletionStudents mustView
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