John C. Staley

My personal system was virtually identical to yours except for the the reverse type I used JH-RA and JH-RB. In the facilities where I was the Transfusion Service or Blood Bank supervisor my tube labeling requirement for the staff was that anyone in the department could set down an take over the testing and know who and what was in each tube.

Is there any other possible cause of what the patient experienced such as antibiotics or food or anything else? I'm not saying it's not the transfusion but it does sound much more applicable to other things.

Just curious but does your facility not stock a supply of group B blood? I'm only wondering why group O was used for the transfusion. Only idle curiosity.

Odd, as the Transfusion Service Supervisor I quite often interacted directly with patients, especially when things got weird!!

Based on, "she claim that she has never had a RhIg shot before. " I had to assume that she did. What else should I have thought!!

Congratulations Malcolm!

So, just where are you hearing this?

I suggest you contact her OB and ask them!

Ok, now for an entirely different direction. Has she received her antenatal RhIG?

and then give the rest of us a book report!

Ok, I'll bite, what is "flying squad blood"?????

One thing I discovered in my many years as a Transfusion Service Supervisor is that inertia is the most powerful force in the Universe! Trying to initiate change, especially in blood banking can be extremely difficult, often impossible. Pick your battles carefully and make sure they are worth fighting. Good luck.

Just curious, but why even have a card catalog at all? That was the first thing I got rid of when we computerized my last blood bank. It took about a year, if I remember correctly, to move all the old info from the paper records into the computer. One thing we did was research each patient that we had not seen in over a year to see if they were deceased or assumed they were if over 100 years old and not seen for a certain period of time. It made no sense to fill space in the computer with patients who were obviously no longer with us.

My only thought is, "What is the motivation for such a change?" The retesting will still have to be done and you will pay for it one way or another so what, exactly are you hoping to accomplish?? A little convenience for the transfusion staff?

Just a side note that came to mind while reading this post. Do you still give Hgb-S negative blood for neonate transfusions? Back when I was still in the world we did so I was just wondering if it was still in vogue. If I remember correctly, the theory was to make sure we were not compromising the oxygen carrying ability for the neonate. Didn't mean to hijack David's post.