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Llehman@ecmc.edu

Members - Bounced Email
  • Posts

    16
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Country

    United States

About Llehman@ecmc.edu

  • Birthday 01/09/1943

Profile Information

  • Interests
    Reading, Music (Piano), Crossword Puzzles
  • Biography
    Completed Fellowship Blood Bank @ Barnes/Washington U, St Louis, MO
  • Location
    Buffalo, New York
  • Occupation
    Medical Director Blood Bank

Llehman@ecmc.edu's Achievements

  1. The Root Cause Analysis Committee met a few minutes ago, and they liked the idea of pre-tagging & ready to go units, so I'm looking into this. Thank for all your help.
  2. What happened was this: The request for 4 units Uncrossmatched blood was phoned in. The BB Tech got all 4 units ready, but when the staff from the ER came to pick up the units, the computer failed to print out the BB tags. OneTech then started to manually write the info into the BB tag, while the other Tech was attempting to print out the tag. The person picking up the units went back to the ER in disgust while this was going on, and while that person was gone, the printer did print-out the info. We later found out the error was in the software (we had just gone live with Meditech version 5.64 from 5.5 on February 8th).This was what caused the delay. The patient died (not because he didn't get blood on time, but because he arrived in our ER 3 hours after he was shot in the chest). As is common, at the Root Cause Analysis (RCA), the Blood Bank was blamed for his death. A Physician's Assistant (who's well known to be rude, obnoxious & demanding) then demanded that we give them the UnXM blood immediately, with the paperwork coming later. That's when I said I will ask what other Trauma Centers are doing. I've gotten 10 responses, & NOT ONE responder said they would issue blood without tie tags.
  3. Thank you, ALL Responders. You have confirmed and agreed with my strong convictions on issuing Uncrossmatched Blood WITH BLOOD BANK TAGS. I will print out all your responses as is and distribute to all concerned.
  4. Yes, as soon as we receive the phone call requesting UnXM blood, we get do all the paperwork (attach the 13-number ISBT-128 blood label to the Tag & write down the patient Name/Other Identifier on the tag), & have everything ready to issue as soon as someone comes with the Request Slip. Thank you for your very prompt response!
  5. To All Blood Bankers in level I Trauma Centers: The Trauma Committee (Surgeons/Nurses/Physicians Assistants) want the Blood Bank to issue Uncrossmatched (UnXM) Packed Cells (PC) with NO Tags/labels in emergencies. I cited AABB Standard # 5.20.1 which states: "A blood container shall have an attached label or tie tag indicating....". They think this is a waste of time & want us to issue PC with paperwork to follow. If we get a phone call to alert us of the need for UnXM blood, it takes us 2 - 5 minutes from the time we receive the Request for PC to the time of the actual transfusion. Question: WOULD YOUR BLOOD BANK ISSUE UnXM PC's WITHOUT A BLOOD BANK TIE TAG? Thanks for your help
  6. Hi Bill, Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention (my apologies to you & everyone!) that the problem we have is for uncrossmatched blood.
  7. Question for ALL Blood Bankers: Do you ever accept Verbal Orders for Blood Blood Products (specifically in emergencies)? This has been a lively discussion in our facility. I quoted AABB Standard 5.11.1, where the last sentence reads: "The transfusion service shall accept only complete, accurate, and legible requests", but other Departments want to know what other facilities in the country are doing. I would greatly appreciate your responses. Thank you.
  8. Hi Everybody, It was decided yesterday, in spite of our objections, that the Blood Bank enter the Nursing start of transfusion data into Meditech, so we will start doing it next Thursday, 07/22/2010. Abraham, thanks for your response. I hope the BB Techs (we've designated a few of them to do this) will find out that this will not be a difficult task. Perhaps, the reason why they're apprehensive is that our BB had always been "Manual", and we only went live with the LIS BB Module on 12/15/2009. Thank you one and all for all your input
  9. I asked the Director of Pharmacy this question, and his reply was: Nursing logs/enters medication administration.
  10. Hi Everybody, I am gratified by all the prompt responses we got, & thanks to all of you. 1. Our BB Supervisor (Karen) has answered all your questions, & Laurie, it appears like we are in the same situation as you. I would certainly be interested in your response to KD. 2. Anybody have any input on the medico-legal aspect of this problem?
  11. Hi Marilyn, 1. At present our Meditech version 5.5 has a lot of flaws in it (we are in the process of updating to version 5.64), & at best, we have a "hybrid" system, some info in the EMR & some info on paper. The only way we have of knowing whether a unit is transfused or not is via the Blood Bank tag (tag is returned 99% of the time). Hopefully, when we go live with version 5,64, we will have the TAR (Tx Adm. Record), which will have Nursing's data cross over to the BB, & we won't need the tags back. Right now, nothing crosses over, & the only thing that shows in the EMR is Issue/Tx date/time - only one time shows, & it doesn't mean anything: we don't know if it's the Issue, Start or Completed time. 2. The second reason why we need the tags back: Joint Commission (JC) both Lab & Hospital-wide Inspectors ask for those tags & check if there are 2 signatures, plus the start/completed date/time of Tx. Again, hopefully, when we get the TAR, JC can look at all of these in the EMR.
  12. Hi Everybody, I need all your input about this problem: We are a Level I Trauma Center (I'm the Medical Director of the Blood Bank), and we went "live" with our Meditech LIS Blood Bank Module on 12/15/2009. The Nursing, IT and Medical Records Departments are requesting/demanding that the Blood Bank staff perform what I and the BB staff consider to be Nursing duties. They want us to enter every Transfusion start date/time into the EMR. The Nursing staff perform the transfusion, they enter manually the transfusion start/stop time into a duplicate BB Tag and return the duplicate tag to the BB (the original stays in patient's chart). I am somewhat aghast at this request. In fact, I wonder whether it is even legal for a BB Tech to enter this information into the EMR, when they did not perform the transfusion. What I would like to know is: Does any Blood Bank perform this function, or do you know of any BB that does this? And does anyone know of the medico-legal ramifications if this was to be done? Thanks for your input/help. For obvious reasons, I would like to remain anonymous.
  13. Thanks for the PowerPoint! I will share with our Quality Assurance Coordinator & Supervisors.
  14. Hi Mary, Our Blood Bank is in the process of converting into an ISBT 128 compliant BB, even if our Vendor/Provider (Red Cross) will not be compliant until 2011. I was quite impressed by what you said about your Blood Center designing a visual "crosswalk". You said the Nurses "loved it", and that is a big deal because they can be so difficult to deal with at times. Is there a possibility that you can share the visual "crosswalk" you designed with our BB? If there is a fee involved, I would be most glad to do so. Thanks, Rose
  15. Hi Redstaff, Welcome to BBT! I'm from the Philippines (grew up in Zambo Norte, but Pa is from Antique, Ma from Fabrica, so I do speak Hiligaynon) & I've been a member for less than a year, but I've found BBT to be very helpful with our everyday operations. I share what I learn with my staff. I'm the Medical Director of a Level I Trauma Center, and we are in the process of validating an Immucor ECHO for our BB testing. I've found BBT very helpful & I've gotten many tips from the members. Rose
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