Army Sgt. Kelli Hellfinstine, Maxwell Veterinary Service non-commissioned officer in charge, instructs 908th Airlift Wing Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Senior Airmen Daquan Foster (left) and Tyson Eggleson (right) on proper techniques to secure an injured canine for transportation at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, March 7, 2021. They are using a training mannequin. (U.S. Air Force photo by Maj. John Stamm)

Future MWD Blood Products

Because of the limited capacity of storing canine whole blood, there are freeze-dried products that could help stabilize MWDs on the battlefield.

The military is looking at freeze-dried platelets, freeze-dried plasma, and a liquid oxygen carrier, added Clifford Snyder Jr., a product manager in the Warfighter Protection and Acute Care Project Management Office, U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity at Fort Detrick in Maryland. 

Freeze-dried platelets are available commercially.

In June 2020, the DHA concluded that advanced development of canine freeze-dried plasma and freeze-dried platelets should proceed with an evaluation for treatment of dogs that have experienced traumatic blood loss. 

A study now underway is looking at four different treatments for civilian dogs that have experienced trauma. The standard of care is administration of crystalloids (balanced salts) to restore blood volume. The other groups will receive reconstituted freeze-dried plasma; reconstituted platelets; or a combination of reconstituted plasma and platelets.

The goal is to gather data on 60 dogs. 

“Our plan is to have the clinical trial completed in 2022,” Snyder said. The next step would be submission of study results to the Food and Drug Administration for a full approval for treatment of canines that have experienced traumatic blood loss.

Oxygen Carriers Show Promise

“Our vets have come to a consensus that we need an oxygen carrier, that plasma and platelets aren’t enough,” Snyder said.

A liquid oxygen carrier could be used to reconstitute freeze-dried plasma or platelets, rather than sterile water.
The oxygen carrier could also help the canines by increasing the level of oxygenation in the blood, Snyder explained. The product is stable at close to body temperature, making it suitable for battlefield use.

“FDA approved one oxygen carrier, Oxyglobin, for veterinary use some time ago,” Snyder said. Oxyglobin is one of the candidates that will be reviewed for possible furthermilitary development; it is not now in production. 

It will probably be “one or two years” until it’s back in production, he said.

Tranexamic Acid (TXA)

Majoy explained how Tufts is conducting a study on tranexamic acid. TXA is a drug that helps blood clotting and so would be useful in the field to stop canine traumas with heavy blood loss.

The study is looking at civilian dogs and has data on 20-25 dogs so far, Majoy said. A medic or handler could carry the product in his or her bag ready to deploy.

“The end goal,” Cooper said, “is to ensure the appropriate blood products, whether WB or shelf-stable blood components, are available to provide hemostatic resuscitation for MWDs at the point of need. All these lines of effort – publishing guidance, health care provider training, collaboration with ASBP, and research and development -- are working toward that goal.”

[This article is the second in a three-part series on military working dogs. The first appeared June 25, 2021, on research collaboration. The third in the series will focus on the need for a MWD trauma registry.]