(Radio Iowa) – A doctor who helped treat soldiers during the battle that inspired the book and movie “Black Hawk Down” is touting the importance of blood availability. Dr. John Holcomb says it is important to have the blood available before patients are taken to the hospital based on what he learned in that battle in Mogadishu.

Holcomb spoke Wednesday in Sioux City about the protocols he developed for using blood based on that experience.

Dr.Holcomb. (KSCJ photo)

Holcomb says he lives in a rural area seven miles outside of the town of Burton, Texas.

Eric Banks is helping develop the strategies to get blood to people quicker.

Holcomb says it’s a more critical issue for rural areas because of the time it takes crews to respond to emergency calls.

Banks says they’ve talked with the Blood Center in Des Moines to get a pilot program going here.

Dr. Holcomb says the 1993 Black Hawk Down tragedy was the catalyst for him to support pre-hospital blood initiatives. He says blood is currently only available in two percent of ground ambulances in the U-S, and the effort is trying to change that.