Meet the team that saved one mom's life
Aug. 20, 2021
Jenapher Blair shakes hands with Trooper Todd Merwin, the helicopter pilot who helped save her life by flying blood from St. Paul to Hutchinson.
“Am I going to die?"
That was the last thing Jenapher Blair asked her nurse, Brandon Thiemann, before he put her under general anesthesia for surgery. “Frankly, when people ask me that, it often turns out that they do," says Thiemann.
But even though July 21 would be the day Jenapher experienced a post-partum hemorrhage – a life-threatening complication after the birth of her third child –
she wouldn't die that day. That's because her medical team, the Red Cross, the Minnesota State Patrol and one very generous blood donor all did their part to make sure she lived.
State troopers are trained in making what they call “blood runs" – getting donated blood as quickly as possible, by any means necessary, from the American Red Cross headquarters in St. Paul to anywhere it's needed in Minnesota. As Jenapher lay bleeding in the Hutchinson Health Hospital, her medical team called the Red Cross and requested the blood she so desperately needed to stay alive.
The Red Cross called State Patrol dispatch, who sent out the call. Troopers Todd Merwin and Brett Stricker happened to be in the air at that moment, and they knew immediately they could fly the blood to Hutchinson in the helicopter faster than a squad car could drive it there.
And so the relay began: Trooper Derrik Hoy drove the blood from the Red Cross to the St. Paul airport. Troopers Merwin and Stricker loaded it onto the helicopter with the intention of landing directly at Hutchinson Health Hospital — but as they approached, they learned there was already an air ambulance on the landing pad, waiting to take Jenapher to Abbot Northwestern for emergency surgery as soon as the transfusion was finished.
So Trooper Merwin made the quick decision to land at the Hutchinson airport instead, where dispatchers arranged for Troopers Ben Madsen and Tim Knutson to meet him in their squad car on the ground. From there, Troopers Madsen and Knutson drove the blood to the hospital. For reference, it takes about an hour and a half to get from downtown St. Paul to Hutchinson Health Hospital. From the moment of the phone call to the moment the blood arrived, just one hour and five minutes elapsed. And with a hemorrhage like Jenapher's, every second counts.
Even though blood runs happen fairly frequently, those involved don't usually get to learn the outcome. Each trooper involved carries that precious cooler on the front seat beside them to the next checkpoint, but they don't often know who it's going to or why. And it's the same with the medical teams: “We order blood and we have no idea where it comes from — we just know that we need it right now," says Thiemann.
To see baby Adalyn sleeping blissfully in her father's arms, her mother standing happy, healthy and whole beside them, is an awe-inspiring experience for everyone involved. As for Jenapher, the experience has brought home to her just how important blood donation is. “We definitely need a lot more people to go out there and give blood."
And because of that person who did — and the team of troopers, medical professionals, dispatchers, and Red Cross workers — Jenapher and her family are here to tell the story.
“My kids have their mom. So thank you."
