lehooke

We are in the process of setting up our new Helmer Ultra CW cellwasher and I have a question about performing the tachometer checks. I am new to this facilty and they have been checking the rpms for the Pack rpm, the Decant rpm and the AHG rpms. I have never heard of checking all three of those readings for a cellwasher before. I have always only checked the rpms of the unit when it is spinning (packing?) Does anyone know if it's a requirement to perform tachometer checks for all three of these functions or is it sufficient to perform the one tach reading? Thanks, Lisa:confused:

Thank you Shaundrey, We are not currently CAP accredited, just AABB and JC. We do have documentation in cerner classic that the CLS must answer findings of history check. They enter PHNA, (previous history no antibody), NH (no history), or PHA (previous history antibody) We check for previous antibodies ID'd and special needs, ABORH using another function, PTC. We also check for patient's blood bank history using a program TIQ. The question of compliance was about being able to check patient's ABO/Rh for previous 12 months when the computer is down.

just had an AABB inspection and the inspector asked me how we check historical data ABO/RH, presence of antibodies, for the past 12 months when the computer system is down. We have cerner classic and we print out the FHR (Freetext History Report) weekly, but he didn't think that was sufficient or practical to look through paper. (I tend to agree) However, he mentioned that there is a way to connect our LIS to a proprietary PC and perform a daily download of that data. If the LIS goes down, the tech uses the PC to perform the history check. Otherwise, he mentioned keeping a card file system, but i don't really want to go back to that. Any thoughts or ideas?

I currently use Blood Bank Refrigerator Certified thermometers in my blood storage refrigerators. These thermometers come with a Certificate of Conformance and Accuracy and are "NIST-traceable". They do not have a calibration expiration date. My question is this, Do i need to calibrate these thermometers annually or are they covered by the certificate? When I read the technical manual, the verbage uses "should be", not must. Is there an AABB standard requiring annual or periodical calibration of this type thermometer? Thank you, Lisa

We have two BioHit electronic pipettes and a TipMaster for back-up. Once you and your staff get used to them, I think you will find that they are very easy to use and if you keep them maintained, will work for you for quite some time. We also perform calibration checks twice a year.

Thank you all for your replies. By the way, is there a way to "Thank" people with one click with this new format?

I've been looking at the Helmer undercounter refrigerators and even though they have a temperature monitoring system with a back-up 2 hour battery, and a temp graph, when I spoke to the rep and told her how I was planning to use it , she said that she could not recommend it for that type of usage. The unit is meant to be stationary and plugged into the wall at all times, moveable casters or not. I am just trying to get a sense of what people are using for these scenarios. I will probably try to convince my director and the OR manager, that the best we can do is to have a second refrigerator in the OR, to be used for one patient at a time, as we do with the current refer that is up there for open heart patients. Sometimes the hoops they want us to jump through are not always in the best interest of the patient.

Perhaps I wasn't clear with my last post. What I meant by portable was a refrigerator with casters, that could be wheeled freely into different OR suites during surgery. Does anyone use those? I know people use the coolers. I tried the credo coolers, but for our usage, they required a lot of pre-conditoning ,conditioning and extra documentation for each. i would rather just have a refrigerator that is both continuously monitored , and connected to a central alarm system. Much easier to comply with...

Does anyone out there use portable refrigerators to store blood in OR suites? We currently have one small refrigerator in a utility room in the OR between suites. We only allow one patient's blood to be stored in there at a time. It is most often used for open heart cases. They would like another portable storage unit for other cases. Does anyone use a particular model no.? Do they come with temperature monitoring systems? Are they battery or electrical powered? Thanks in advance.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a new centrifuge/sero-fuge for blood grouping, typing and crossmatching? I have two Centra- B Plus centrifuges from Thermo-IEC. I like them because they are small and have been reliable , until recently. Now, one of them is in BioMed , awaiting a new mother board (which I hear may be obsolete) and I keep having problems with the lid on the other one. it's time for something new. i am looking at the Clay Adams, Sero-fuge 2001 and the HelmerSeroSpin- SO. Both of these units are bigger than the Centra-B Plus, but I don't think i can get those anymore, unless they're refurbished. I appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Can someone help me find the reference for the inclusion of the Medical Director's name on all Blood Bank forms? I can't find it in either the AABB Stds. or Technical Manual. Thank you!

I just purchased two of the Credo coolers as well. Would you be willing to share your validation procedure with me? I may have asked this in another post, I'm not sure. Thank you in advance! Lisa lisa.hooke@alvaradohospital.com

duplicate post

Donna, Could I also have a copy of your cooler validation procedure? I would really appreciate it. Thanks! Lisa lisa.hooke@alvaradohospital.com

Malcolm, You are correct. It was for C antigen typing. After speaking to the reference tech, he specifically said that when "he retested the patient using in-dated Biotest reagents...., he then got a weak positive result.

Just spoke with the reference tech who performed the testing and I asked him about the result. He replied, "Oh yes, we went back and did more testing with an in-dated Biotest reagent and got a very weak positive result. Most likely the patient is R2 RZ." Apparently, it didn't warrant a follow-up phone call.

Malcolm, She was of Hispanic descent and I agree with you completely! ~Lisa

Guess what? When I returned to work this morning, I received the final written report from the reference lab and interestingly enough- under additional red cell typings, the C typing was reported as C+weak. I'm wondering if the reference tech went back and repeated the testing again after our telephone conversation. If he did, he never called me back to inform me of his corrected interpretation. Hmmm...

Just wondering if anyone has encountered discrepancies between antigen typing performed at the transfusion service and the reference lab. I recently sent a patient's sample over to the reference lab to rule out an antibody for us and they repeated the Rh phenotyping. They typed the patient as C negative and I typed the same patient as C positive, (only positive after 15 minute incubation). When I spoke to the reference tech about it, he replied that he had seen this before since we use different antisera than they do. He suggested that we result the C typing as indeterminate and transfuse with C negative blood , which I agreed, but I have not encountered that discrepancy in the past. Is it common?

We use manila shipping tags that have string attached. 4 3/4" x2 1/4". We place the crossmatch label on the tag and attach it to the unit. We get them from Corporate Express. (The string doesn't come with a knot in the end so our phlebotomists knot the strings in their spare time) At our facility, if it's slow, they send you home, so this little chore comes in handy during periods of low census. They even volunteer to do it!)

Hi lef5501, Here's a copy of the shortcut from one of the other BB Talk forums. I think you will find this useful. I did. http://www.bloodbanktalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2533&highlight=blood+utilization+letter

No Aakupaku, We do not see many alarms with these settings.

Set temp is 36.5 and alarm temp is set to 36.9

Has anyone had any problems with the the inside cover of the cell washer "chipping"? It looks as if the paint is chipping off and I'm wondering if it is due to the weekly bleach cycle. The cellwasher is only 3 years old. I don't remember ever having this problem with the older cellwashers, but of course, I sometimes don't remember what I had for dinner last night.

We have the patient sign an attestation on the Blood Bank request stating whether or not they have been pregnant or transfused in the past 3 months. If not, the specimen is good for 7 days and we hold the crossmatched units up to 3 days after surgery. We use a "Secureline" blood bank armband with a unique BB ID#. The band is good for the length of admission as long as it remains legible. Phlebotomists may handwrite the BB ID# on subsequent blood samples after the pre numbered labels are used up. If the band is removed for any reason, the patient must be redrawn and a new armband is attached. We have very few problems with this system. For out patients and preops, we use a waterproof armband that has a sealed pouch, where we place the large white label from the BB armband. This was done because too many people were coming in with smudged armbands on the day of surgery. The new armbands have worked quite well to reduce this occurrence. We use Cerner Classic and if the patient has signed the form stating they have not been pregnant or received blood products in 3 months, we make a notation in PTC that the patient has signed the form , with a date and time stamp. This system works well for us when we get a call from the nurses checking the status of a blood sample.