"Bleeding Out"

INVESTIGATIVE CATEGORY — SHOWCASE SILVER

The Dallas Morning News and the San Antonio Express-News
Contributors: Lauren Caruba, Ari Sen, Smiley Pool
11/28/2023

Bleeding Out is a six-part investigative series co-published by The Dallas Morning News and the San Antonio Express-News. Based on more than two years of reporting, including more than 140 interviews and a review of nearly 300 medical journal articles, the series explores a preventable health crisis: why tens of thousands of Americans bleed to death from survivable injuries every year and evidence-based reforms that could save more lives. The project identifies systemic failings in emergency health care that result in potentially preventable deaths, including the fact that most paramedics across the country are fundamentally unequipped to treat severe internal bleeding. Nationwide, there is unequal access to specialized trauma hospitals and rapid emergency services that directly impact patient outcomes, and the vast majority of paramedics do not carry lifesaving blood products. The reporting also found that federal officials have been aware of high rates of preventable trauma deaths for years but have failed to act and that federal funding for research that would help improve outcomes for trauma patients remains insufficient compared to other leading causes of death. As part of a data analysis in collaboration with medical researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the news organizations identified gaping trauma care deserts and glaring geographic disparities in trauma outcomes that contribute to the epidemic of preventable deaths. The series was produced with the support of a reporting grant from the USC Center for Health Journalism.

Bleeding Out had an impact even before publication of the first story, prompting North Texas trauma leaders (Dallas Fire-Rescue and the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council) to commit to launching pilot blood programs in 2024. These programs will have an immediate impact on patient care by making blood transfusions, a lifesaving intervention, available to more patients on the way to the hospital. Privately, sources have said that they have shared stories from the series during meetings with high-ranking federal officials and local stakeholders, as part of their advocacy for policies that would improve patient care.

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Submitted by Lauren Caruba.