The US Army says it’s reviving a World War I practice — using soldiers as walking blood banks when helicopters can’t fly

• A recent US Army exercise looked at life-saving medical care when wounded troops can’t be flown out.

• In an intense conflict, getting troops off the field or bringing in supplies could prove extremely difficult.

• The exercise revived the “walking blood bank” concept from World War I, using soldiers.

Western troops may face deadlier fights in future wars. If helicopters can’t fly medevac flights, the US Army’s fallback for treating the wounded is a World War I approach: using soldiers as “walking blood banks.”

During a recent exercise on a German hillside, the Army and its allies and partners simulated enemy artillery fire that resulted in tremendous soldier casualties. Without air superiority for flying evacuations for the injured or bringing in needed supplies, life-saving treatment had to be done right near the fight.

The exercise saw US soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade training to provide prolonged care in the field, a necessity in situations like the Ukraine war, or potential future conflicts, where contested air makes it difficult to move injured troops off the battlefield for trauma care in the critical “golden hour” window.

The US and its allies were able to enjoy that during the conflicts in the Middle East, but that may not be an option in the future.

TKUS Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Sean Ferry, 114th Public Affairs Detachment.

“What we’re looking to do is to try and exercise the delivery of giving blood, in a far forward situation, from our own organic sources,” said Maj. Cat Kemeny, the regimental medical officer with 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, British Army, according to a US Army release. “Those organic sources are people.”

Kemeny said troops are an ideal source because the blood is stored at a perfect temperature in their bodies, and it makes for a quick transfusion with no degradation because of time or travel.

Walking blood banks aren’t a new concept, having originated during World War I when transporting injured soldiers for life-saving treatment couldn’t be done quickly enough. The approach has been called a “buddy transfusion” or direct donor-to-patient transfusion and was pioneered during WWI. Though it fell out of practice decades ago because of safety concerns, it’s now possible again thanks to blood screening technologies.

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