At the end of 2023, The Dallas Morning News and the San Antonio Express-News published Bleeding Out, a six-part series that explored an intractable health crisis — the fact that tens of thousands of injured Americans bleed to death with potentially survivable injuries each year. The series documented how gaps in health care systems across the country left paramedics unequipped to treat massive blood loss and evidence-based solutions, including equipping emergency response vehicles with lifesaving blood products.
Since its publication, Bleeding Out has received national recognition for its comprehensive reporting — including more than 140 interviews, a review of hundreds of medical journal articles, a national analysis of disparities in trauma deaths and dozens of hours reporting in the field. The series received honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Online Journalism Awards, Best of the West and the Texas Medical Association’s Anson Jones, MD, Awards. This week, the National Association of Science Writers recognized the series in its Science in Society Awards.
Now, The Dallas Morning News is making the first story of the series — Why so many Americans bleed to death after a traumatic injury — available to the general public to encourage more discussion around this urgent public health problem. I encourage you to revisit the story and share it in your professional circles.
The full series can be accessed at dallasnews.com/bleedingout.
