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I went to SBB school and recently passed the SBB exam, the first time (about a year and a half ago). The best advice I can give you is the following: 1. My exam was primarily transfusion or reference lab related. I think I had one quality question and some donor center math. 2. Yes, you need to know the Tech Manual. However, it is not the best source of info. You need a variety such Antigen Factsbook, Human Blood Groups, Rossi's Transfusion Medicine, Issit, etc. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. 3. If you work in a transfusion service that is AABB accredited then you should be familar with the quality aspect of the Standards. The Standards are good also as a quick reference for components, ie. 3.0 x 10e11 platelets in a Pheresis platelets versus anything below would be a Variable Content. 4. The best lesson that I learned in SBB school was that the exam will be situational, not recall. You will have very few questions, or none at all, that require recall. You will never get a question that asks, "an anti-D and an anti-C could be ???" Instead, you will get an adsorption/elution study where you look at panels and make the distinction between the aforementioned and an anti-G. You will never get a transfusion question that asks, "what do you give for a factor VIII deficiency?" They will give you enough data to calculate the dose, but then the answer will be in the number of units of cryo. Stuff like that. 5. Also, sometimes more than one answer could be correct. You must choose the best answer. It may seem like a daunting task to take/pass the exam. Just put in the work to gain the knowledge and then draw on your experience. Heck, the first 10 questions they asked me, I didn't have a clue what they were talking about! But I passed and, surprisingly, did well. I thought for sure I had flunked it. Good luck!

There is a way to do it, but I believe that it is messy. I believe that you could restore the record of the old accession numbers and then go in and ECR the results. In return, I believe that in PTC the antibody will be removed, but have ERR in its place.

In my opinion, antibody identification must be performed. The patient probably has a warm autoantibody rendering every crossmatch performed to be incompatible. However, depending upon the reactivity at LISS IAT, adsorption must be performed to rule out underlying alloantibodies. An in vivo crossmatch may be all that is available to you; however, depending upon the severity of the patient's condition, that has significant risks. Good luck. I would vote for a workup!

Hi! I am a reference lab technologist at Community Blood Center in Kansas City. I came to CBC after spending over a decade in a large, busy transfusion service. This is a great site!

I just came across a fantastic book that should be in every transfusion service, reference lab, and given to physicians and students. It is called Essentials of Transfusion Medicine by Dr. Fred V. Plapp. He also has a website at www.clinlabnavigator.com which covers all laboratory tests including tests performed in a blood bank. I believe this book is thorough, easy to understand, and serves as a great reference for this ever- changing profession.