Yeah that was my first thought. Doesn't need to be a full replacement, if side effects are minuscule and long term, this would be a superb buffer. Many hospitals are asking for donations. Well now they might ask for subventions :p

If you're bleeding out and compatible blood isn't immediately available, we already have several volume expanders that can be used.

Obviously, any blood is better then no blood. But will you survive that long on artificial blood if it doesn't contain all the right properties for your body?

I would have thought that getting blood into trauma patients in the field would be the main application for this?

Once back in a hospital setting they could switch to using real blood.

Paramedic here - two main areas of concern regarding blood in the prehospital/emergency setting -

1 - Volume - You need enough fluid in a closed system to maintain pressure to push that fluid.

2. Oxygen carrying capacity - Oxygen binds with red blood cells which then deliver it to every cell in your body.

Right now the prehospital setting can more or less manage #1, we have been for a century with Normal Saline.

There is some stuff circulating (pun intended) regarding fluids that can transport oxygen but it will be years before we can use it

Does #1 mean that a person with high blood pressure is more able to survive blood loss than a person with standard blood pressure?

Not a medic/doctor, but I would assume higher pressure would result in pushing blood out of your system faster. This probably offsets gains