STN Webinar: Whole Blood Implementation: A Practical Roadmap

Date: March 18, 2026 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Is your hospital interested in implementing a whole blood program? The use of Low Titer O Whole Blood (LTOWB) is a hot topic in the world of prehospital and trauma and many groups are beginning to use this product as a part of their patient care. As with any new therapy, there is an abundance of new information to review and sometimes conflicting points of view on hot topics. This webinar will cover essential hot topics, provide resources for building a clinical knowledge base, discuss cost considerations, and help participants understand the essential steps to implementing a whole blood program at your facility.

Speaker:
Laura Harwood, BSN, RN is the co-founder of the Colorado Whole Blood Coalition and an Independent Consultant.  She served as the trauma program manager at St Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, an ACS verified Level I trauma center, for 5 years prior to this and has led the development and launch of several prehospital whole blood programs in Colorado. Her passion for trauma and prehospital care stems back to the days when as a child, her mom would take her to be a mock patient for EMS trainings and mass casualty drills. She received her bachelors in nursing from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Beth-el School of Nursing and is currently pursuing an MBA through Colorado Christian University. Her background includes time as an EMT, time served with El Paso County Search and Rescue, as a critical care nurse in Washington, at St. Anthony Hospital in the neurotrauma ICU, and then serving as a nurse with Flight for Life Colorado. She served in the trauma services department at St Anthony Hospital from 2016 through 2025 and has a passion for teaching people about trauma care and collaboration throughout the spectrum of trauma care to help every patient receive the best possible care for their injuries. She is a TNCC instructor and ATCN instructor as well. Outside of her work in the trauma and whole blood world, she loves to spend time outdoors backpacking, skiing, and mountain biking--and capturing all of this in her photography. She lives in Evergreen, CO with her husband and daughter.