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Yes, but the card is European. I have no idea if it is available in the USA.

For our pre-op patients, if they have not been pregnant or transfused in the past 3 months, we'll make the specimen good for 28 days. We do the type and screen within 3 days of collection. Once the patient has been transfused, we set the outdate to 3 days.

But if the donor was previously tested for any other patient and that patient was charged, you can't charge the current patient for antigen typing that particular unit.

Due to the lack of definitive guidance via actual studies (Seriously, how can that be done?), we have taken a 'logic' approach with our policy (my comments for this posting in italics) : Select Product in this order ... Indated product using shortest outdate first. (This means that plasma that is already thawed is used first, regardless of ABO Group as long as it is not Group O, see next rule.) ABO Group: ABO compatible are preferred but not essential. (And then there's a chart because it is a procedure and that has to have everything in it.) Do not issue Group O to a Non-Group O or Group Unknown patient without the consent of a pathologist. Caution: The use of ABO Incompatible plasma may cause significant hemolysis if sufficient volume is given (e.g. over 1000ml) within a 24 hour period. Notify attending physician prior to ordering and/or issuing so an assessment could be made of the risk vs need when larger volumes are anticipated. (And then instructions about how this is done and documented.)

We implemented the "extended crossmatch" several years ago after we had a very angry physician with a scalpel in his hand and a patient on the table with multiple antibodies that we found just before he started cutting. The patient had been prescreened for everything but BB about a week before. By the time we got our specimen and had completed the T/S, the patient was draped in surgery. Surprise! This process has made our mornings much easier and we get very few bad surprises now. We only do this process for pretest surgery patients and only if they have not been pregnant or transfused in 3 months. It took a lot of education and some missteps to get the nurses and physicians to understand there was a process that had to be followed exactly. This is a process with lots of steps that has evolved over a long period and we seem to have it pretty much perfected now. Everyone knows what needs to be done but it wasn't easy to get to this point. 1. We have a form that is used at pretest if the physician wants a crossmatch or T/S for surgery. The nurse will ask the patient about pregnancy and recent transfusions. The nurse must sign the form indicating that they asked the patient the specific questions and send the form with the pretest specimen. 2. We do a T/S and historical check. We put a comment in the computer that the patient has an extended crossmatch. We put a colored round sticker on the top of the specimen as a sign that the sample should be held for longer than all the other regular specimens. 3. Two days before the expected surgery we fax the same form to surgery holding so the form can be placed on the patient's chart. The holding nurses know to look for the form when the patient arrives. If we need a second specimen for ABO recheck, we have a place to indicate that we need a new sample. 4. The morning of surgery, the holding nurse will ask the patient the same questions and sign the form in a different spot and collect any specimens we indicated we needed. They fax the form back to us with the second signature. We have the answers to the questions and any specimens we need before the patient goes back to surgery. We remove the comment from the computer and order a specific computer test for the extended XM if everything is signed and looks OK. We locate the pretest sample and remove the sticker from the top. The crossmatch now has a 3 day limit. 4. If the patient is found to have antibodies at pretest, we know prior to the morning of surgery. We indicate on the form that is sent early to holding that a new sample is needed. We have time prior to surgery to screen or order antigen negative units and are able to crossmatch them with the new sample without much stress. 5. If there are any problems or concerns, we want a new specimen collected the morning of surgery and we start over with a new T/S. If the patient name or identification has changed, we can't find the pretest sample, the nurse didn't sign the pretest form and we didn't notice, etc. 6. We tried to go with different lengths of extending (10 days, 14 days, etc) but finally settled on one month. Some patients would cancel surgery and come back after the extended date. It is easier for the techs to look at the pretest day and make a quick decision on the fly if we need a new sample. If it is close to one month we just tell holding we need a new sample but we already know the patient is negative for antibodies. Holding knows to call us if the patient had surgery cancelled so we can let them know if the sample was discarded or if it is close to or past a month. Most surgery is done within a week or maybe two of having the pretesting performed. Very few stretch it out to close to a month If any of the steps are not followed as we require, the patient can't be extended. They have to follow our rules for all of us to be happy. The physicians are happy because they don't have to make a decision to continue surgery without crossmatched compatible blood. We have found the occasional autoimmune problem prior to surgery using this process and we can easily discuss with the physician at his office and have all the medical release forms waiting in holding. It is easier than trying to explain autoimmune to a physician with a scalpel in his hand.