# Iowa State Patrol troopers brave blizzard to deliver life-saving blood to critical patient

## Subheadings

### Iowa State Patrol troopers brave blizzard to deliver life-saving blood to critical patient

### Updated: 6:29 PM CDT Mar 11, 2025

### Content

During last week's blizzard, a team of Iowa State Patrol troopers braved the treacherous roads to transport life-saving blood products to a patient in need.

A patient was on the operating table in a northern Iowa hospital, and the hospital's blood supply was running dangerously low. A call for help was made to the LifeServe Blood Center in Johnston.

From there began a desperate effort to save the patient.

"This patient alone received 99 blood products just in that one day, which was a lot. That is a lot for one patient to receive. And that was red blood cells, platelets and plasma," said Danielle West, regional vice president of LifeServe Blood Center.

LifeServe quickly gathered the blood products it could spare, but then were faced with the challenge of getting the products to the hospital in northern Iowa.

They quickly gathered the blood products they could spare.

With parts of Interstate 35 closed and visibility limited due to heavy snow, Iowa State Patrol troopers were called to help.

Trooper Nathan Nemmers bravely embarked on the mission, picking up the blood products and navigating carefully to Story City for a relay handoff.

Dispatch had advised me that there was a patient actively in the operating room waiting on these blood products and needed it emergent," said Nemmers.

The blizzard's dangers were evident.

"It was a little bit scary. It was. I certainly had to slow my speeds down because there had not been very much snow removed from that section of roadway," Nemmers said.

Despite the challenges, he didn’t hesitate to fulfill his assignment, recognizing the critical nature of the task.

Nemmers passed the blood products needed to stabilize the patient to a second state trooper in Story City.

A third would continue the journey to the northern Iowa hospital.

Nemmers expressed deep personal satisfaction in performing this duty as a regular blood donor himself, stating that it provided a unique perspective on the lifesaving impact of such contributions.

LifeServe Blood Center tells us that the last it heard, the patient on the operating table who needed the blood products was in the intensive care unit in stable condition.

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