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Very proud to have received this through the post earlier this week, to go with being elected to Fellowship of the British Blood Transfusion Society earlier this year.

I am pushing for my lab to define "lab experience" for the purpose of qualifying for job postings. I know CLIA doesn't fully define anything regarding this. Wondering if any of you have this defined at your facility? We are getting all kinds of things being claimed and it seems like HR doesn't know what should and shouldn't count. Case by case basis brings us back to the same discussion every time. My assumption is it has to be clinical in nature? What about internships/clinical rotations? Volunteer work? Paid/unpaid? Does 1 day a month for a year count the same as full-time? College research labs? Vet lab?

Hi- I'm curious how others are working to develop future lab leaders or even current leaders? If this is not something that is high priority for your institution, would you ever consider bringing in an outside consultant to help with leadership initiatives? Thanks! Amy

I took the SBB exam last year and didn't do too well, at least not well enough to pass. I thought I had prepared as well as I could have, but when exam day came I had no luck. Am I crazy or did a good portion of the exam deal with topics and other things that I'll never see or use? Should I have expected not to pass the first time? I have a 4-year degree in biology with 14 years of clinical experience with the last five as a blood bank supervisor (five of the fourteen years were not in blood bank). I thought I was prepared but I must have missed something. I couldn't find very much information on preparing for the exam so I tried to prepare on my own. I'm looking for advi…

It is with huge regret that I heard today that Imelda Bromilow died towards the end of February.

Hello, what does this requirement mean exactly?

Hello everyone, in an oncology hospital, critical values should be provided for all labs, including the blood bank. Can anyone share their SOPs that contain these critical values?

It is with immense regret that I have to say that I learned yesterday that Dr Patricia Tippett died at the age of 93 on 1st August 2023. I first met Pat in the early 1970's, when I was a callow youth who had just left school and was working at the IBGRL when it was in Gatliff Road in London (when Dr Kenneth Goldsmith was the Director) and Pat was working in the opposite building in the MRC Blood Group Unit, then under Drs Rob Race and Ruth Sanger. Pat is probably most famous for her work on the Rh Blood Group System, including categorising the then know Partial D types and for realising that the RH genes were twofold; namely RHD and RHCE. She was. of course…

It is with huge regret that I can reveal that Marilyn Kay Grandstaff Moulds has just informed me that Peter Issitt died on Wednesday evening. One of the truly great blood groupers.

I somewhat recently moved from a larger hospital with digitrax ISBT label printer to a smaller hospital without a blood product label printer... When we thaw a unit of plasma, what sort of relabeling is required? We do use barcode scanning for issuing and transfusing, so if we modify the expiration in the computer and then scan the original barcode problems occur at issuing and then at transfusion as they don't match. Currently we have a sticker we put on the unit where we hand-write the thaw date/time and expiration date/time... is that... acceptable?

Dear all, is it possible to share look-back and trace-back form and SOP? I'm still confused about how detail that it should be. thank you in advance.

We are in the process of remodeling our Lab to accommodate an automation line and need to replace our decades-old lab benches and storage. Has anyone done this recently that can give me recommendations on suppliers? I should mention that we are in the US.

I am enormously honoured to announce that I am going to be awarded the Gold Medal of the British Blood Transfusion Society at their Annual Scientific Meeting in Brighton this year. It is awarded to an individual for their exceptional and long standing services to the Society and to the practice of blood transfusion in the UK. Sorry if this sounds egocentric, but I am very excited.

We have a new hospital texting system that all employees are to use on their computers or personal cell phones. It has been proposed that critical laboratory values be communicated by text - in place of getting a "read back" from the receiving individual, there would be documentation on the report that "text marked as read by _____". Are any other facilities doing this? Do you think this meets the requirements? Thanks!

I see that Medical Laboratory Directors sign every two years. Staff signs every two or every year? Carmen

Finding a qualified lab tech is extremely hard in rural area. For those who server rural area hospital laboratory how are you managing staffing issue. Do you guys use non lab educated ( Biology, chemistry ) graduate to work as tech? Any comment/suggestion is welcomed thank you

I've been retired for a long time, so I'm downsizing my library. If someone wants the following books, I'll be happy to donate them. U.S.A. only. Applied Blood Group Serology. Issit. 2nd edition. 1975. Clinical and Serological Aspects of Transfusion Reactions. Judd and Barnes. AABB. 1982. Selection of Procedures for Problem Solving. Wallace and Green. AABB. 1983. Problems Encountered in Pretransfusion Testing. AABB. 1972.

How many cells do you feel are required when testing the last wash? Some use the whole panel, others only a few cells.

It is with huge regret that I have to report the fact that I have heard that Dr Larry Petz died on 2nd June following a short illness. One of the all time greats of the world of blood transfusion. May he rest in peace and I send my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Hi I was assigned recently as a laboratory Chief Technologist. However, the job description has general tasks!!! Could anyone share his/her laboratory Chief Technologist job description. Many thanks in advance.

Hello, I need to find a new source for a Kleihauer-Betke test kits. If you can include the web site many thanks.:cool:

Hello, just wondering if anyone has been dealing with 10 digit FDA registration numbers during labeling of codabar or ISBT products and is there a spec out there detailing this information.

IMSS (Intermountain States Seminar) is an annual 3 day meeting held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, usually starting the second Wednesday of September. You can find infomation at http://asclsregionviii.org/wpi/. I spent yesterday there and met a couple of delightful ladies who recognized my name from this forum and suggested I mention it. If you are looking for CE opportunities in the future in one the the most stunning locales in the USA you should consider this meeting.

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Am I correct is saying that having the MLS ASCP certification and being an active member will allow you to be eligible for licensure (if appropriate) and work in all states in the USA? Blood-bankers from many countries contribute to the discussions on this site. I have always assumed, but am curious to know if every country has a certification requirement for working in a blood-bank or are there several different pathways available? Also how transferable are these different qualifications between countries, ignoring the visa requirements? I am guessing that at least some countries have agreements. Thanks for any input