Iowa state troopers rushed a load of life-saving blood over snowy highways Monday night to help a heart surgery patient at Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge.
A relay moved the blood from Des Moines to the local hospital. Trooper Justin Parman and Sgt. Randy Steinkamp, who are both assigned to the state patrol's Post 7 in Webster County, handled the last leg of the relay.
''The patient is doing fine to our knowledge,'' said Lt. Kelly Hindman, the commander of Post 7.
Hindman said troopers in his district are called upon to transport blood about six times a year. But he said Monday's case had a ''special urgency to it.''
According to Hindman, a patient at Trinity had open heart surgery earlier in the day, but had to return to the operating room because of some complications.
At about 8 p.m. Monday, the Iowa State Patrol was asked to bring blood from a blood bank in Des Moines to Fort Dodge.
Troopers from Des Moines brought the blood to Story City, where Parman and Steinkamp met them. The blood, packed in a foam container, was loaded into Parman's patrol car. Steinkamp followed Parman in a second patrol car in case there were any problems along the way.
''The roads were a bit dicey,'' Hindman said.
According to Hindman, the supervisors of Department of Transportation garages in Williams and Fort Dodge agreed to keep snowplows out in the area to help the troopers.
The snowplows weren't needed, and the blood was delivered without any serious problems, Hindman said.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net