Saturday, September 19, 2026

Fire Department Swaps Aging Medications With Huntington Hospital Pharmacy

The trade mirrors the stewardship rule behind the department’s new field blood program, where unused units go back to the hospital

Pasadena firefighter-paramedics are trading medications nearing their expiration dates to Huntington Hospital Pharmacy in exchange for stock with longer shelf life, an arrangement the City of Pasadena says reduces replacement costs and keeps drugs from going unused or wasted.

Medications approaching expiration go to the hospital pharmacy, where they can be used more quickly, and the fire department receives units dated further out, according to the city. The pharmacy also supplies narcotics and other emergency medical services medications that the city said can be difficult to obtain elsewhere.

The exchange runs alongside a second, larger arrangement with the same hospital system. In August the Pasadena Fire Department joined LA-DROP, the Los Angeles Prehospital Blood Transfusion Program, in partnership with Huntington Health, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai, and the Houchin Community Blood Bank.

Under that program, the department carries low-titer O-positive whole blood on two Battalion Chief vehicles, stored in temperature-monitored coolers and given through a rapid infusion system, according to Huntington Health. It lets paramedics begin treating severe blood loss at the scene rather than after a patient reaches an emergency department.

“Severe bleeding remains one of the leading causes of preventable death,” said Chad Augustin, chief of the Pasadena Fire Department.

The blood program carries the same return-it-before-it-expires logic as the medication swap. If blood the department carries goes unused within a set period, the units transfer to Huntington Health, where they can support critically ill patients rather than be discarded.

That approach has a track record to measure against. LA-DROP launched in 2025 as California’s first coordinated prehospital blood transfusion program, and participating agencies have since administered more than 70 prehospital transfusions, managed more than 350 units of blood and held the blood discard rate below 1%, according to Huntington Health.

Savings from the medication exchange are redirected toward emergency medical services equipment, technology and other resources, according to the City of Pasadena.