Deb

Another important thing to remember is that you must inform your donor if there are situations when their blood will NOT be tested (i.e., in the case of an insufficient volume)....

Chuck, I just sent you an email with some comments. Deb

Plenty....depending on how many you are ordering. I don't know if you have looked at any other models, but I just returned from AABB and found the mixer from MacoPharma looked pretty similar. Not sure of the pricing, but if you are thinking about just the basic (no data collection) features, they are having a sale through the end of the year.

We allow donors taking anti-depressant, anti-anxiety agents to donate as long as they can provide a reliable and self-accountable medical history. The medications themselves do not require a deferral. There have been a handful of times (3 over 17 years that I can remember clearly) when the donor just does not seem to have it all together - even with the meds -- then we defer them based on their inabilty to provide a reliable medical history. If they wish to be re-instated, our medical director requires a letter from a licensed psychiatrist documenting that they have been evaluated, are self-accountable, and the medical history provided is reliable.

We notify BOTH the parent and the under age minor. In North Dakota, that would be donors that are 16 years old.

Stu, You are correct - whole blood units collected at a blood drive are indeed different from processed units that need to be maintained at storage temps (1-6C) or transport temps (1-10C) Blood Drive units should be placed in a transport device (i.e., cooler) that is configured with sufficient cooling capacity (i.e., ice/gel packs, etc) that will provide an environment that will cool the units continously "[towards]" 1-6C. We usually get our blood back to the center within 4 hours and the blood is hardly ever cooler than 19 C if it is a full cooler. We validated our process by simulating conditions of a minimal load (1 unit) to a full load (16 units) and tracked the temperature changes over a period of time (that would depend on how long you would need the units to be in the coolers prior to reaching the component lab). We could demonstrate that we had conditions of continous cooling towards 1-6 C over a 10 hour time period. Some people validate for 24 hours. If you live in a climate that has extreme swings in temperatures you may also want to do a "summer" and a "winter" test to show the cooler can still maintain the cooling capacity.

I have had 2 donors in the past 20+ years that were absolutely "risk free" and had RR HBsAg Neut Neg (Core Neg) on more than one occasion 8 weeks apart. Upon investigation we (I worked with the company technical rep) concluded it had to do with a mouse in the house. Seriously. Both donor's had seasonal lake cabins and they had recently had to clean out an area that had been quite a playground over the winter for the little furry critters. The HBsAg test is created using a mouse antigen. Conclusion: the donors had formed antibodies to the actual mice they had been exposed to that were close enough to cross react with the test (they weren't very strong reactions). After waiting about a year, we re-tested the donor to be sure we would be using a different lot number as well....voila....all testing was negative. They continue to be negative to this day. We were willing to go the extra mile as these were both >20 gallon donors (q 8 weeks w/o fail)....

...ditto here...tie tags. If you use an adhesive label...be sure the adhesive is FDA approved for placement on a blood bag.

We only count the parent bag and then calculate for the splits. We validated the splitting process by testing each split from "X" number of collections and demonstrating the split yields were accurate whether calculated from the parent sample or individual sample. You just have be be sure your process for splitting the products is strictly adhered to. Letting too much time elapse while you wait for the products to equilibrate can result in an unequal distribution of platelets. You can also apply for a variance to do away with the "end of storage" QC count/yield.

We don't do too many outside blood drives during the summer, but we do a few with Churches and/or Community Service Clubs such as rotary, American Legion, etc. We have even done blood drives with some of the larger car dealerships that have been quite successful. We also have a Boots vs. Badges blood drive (and traveling trophy) between the Fire Dept and Police Dept and rotate the location hosting it yearly. You should hear them "josh" each other about who will faint first! It is quite fun!

We are currently looking at our staffing ratios and I am wondering if any of you in collection centers would share with me what staff to donors collected ratio you are currently using ... AND ... if those staff are performing anything other than Screening and WB Collections. I've seen the mobile staff to donor ratio previously stated as 1.5 donors per staff per hour of collection...is this a valid number still, or are you using some other parameter? Thanks

We have found it very helpful. We keep it here, on site, filed alphabetically by donor name. Then, when the donor comes in, we have them re-affirm the history and add any additonal travel, make a copy and attach to the donor paper record for that presentation. The helpful part....it is amazing how changeable memories are (mine included)!! One time the donor traveled in 2008, the next time it was ? 2007....and the saga continues. At least this way, we have the same information from donation to donation.

We have a very similar process to Heathers

Here is an example of a very simple one that we use. I am hoping that by next year this time we will have an online donor history questionnaire that will capture and save the donor's travel history...but we'll see.... 7025-0933 Travel Log.pdf

We are also going to be validating some electronic BP/pulse equipment and I'm wondering what criteria you finally decided on using? ... and how close you required your readings to be within? Thanks Deb dschue@altru.org

CAP offers a commercial proficiency kit for Bacterial Detection. It is new this year.

I am with a hospital blood bank (including a donor center). The hematology laboratory uses the Sysmex XE2100 for both patient work and our product QC. The linearity of the machine is terrific. They love that they never have to do dilutions for product QC. One item I will toss out as an FYI: To ensure the instrument wasn't reporting cell fragments as platelets and miss a potential patient with an extremely low platelet count, the laboratory established the femtoliter setting at a slightly higher cutoff level. This act had the following impact: They are sure to catch patients with low platelet counts....but some of the smaller platelets in products go uncounted. That means our product counts tend to be artificially on the lower side. Sysmex also offers an instrument intended specifically for Donor Centers. You might want to take a look at that instrument as an option.

We do the same thing as Heathervaught -- although the number of directed units requested is getting very small.... "We don't do any pre-screening unless the prospective donor has donated at our facility in the past and already has a blood type in our records. Otherwise, we accept all prospective directed donors then release the appropriate number of compatible components that fill the request. All communication about acceptable units and blood types is relayed to the ordering physician (i.e. we collected 3 donors but one was a type A and you requested O). Any incompatible ABOs (and compatible units in excess of the request) are released into our general inventory."

We are handling it just like the seasonal flu vaccines. I had the same question about differentiating between the injectable (killed toxoid) and the nasal (live attenuated). There was a 2003 AABB Bulletin that indicated both were fine to accept without any deferral period.

We have seven (7) padded transport cases for the Sebra Blood Collection Monitors that we do not have any further need for. They are in excellent condition. I hate to just throw them away. Anyone interested?

Rashmi, Sounds like you have some high respect for Q-Pulse. Thanks for the comment. Do you know anyone who has used it?

For those of you using (or having used) any of the commercial QA Management Software, what do you use. Is anyone familiar with Q-Pulse? Thanks for any info you can share! Deb

Here's one I'll bet none of you have heard: Shortly after we implemented ISBT labeling, a donor called up and asked us to consider changing our Facility ID number (part of the Donation Identification Number). He saw the new format on his "call back card" and indicated that if we couldn't / or wouldn't be willing to change it he would have to stop donating. When asked about his concern, he indicated that he just could not get comfortable with the idea of donating his blood to the "devil"....you see, our Facility ID number is..... W0666......Hey thanks ICCBBA!!.... and no, we haven't changed it!

Thanks to all who have responded to my inquiry. It is very useful and appreciated information!

We currently use the Sebra 1020 and 1040 models of automatic blood collection mixers and are looking at replacing the ones (1020) that we use on our mobiles. I am interested in looking at something a little more compact and am wondering what your experience has been with the Genesis mixers. One issue that a recent inspector commented on was the direction the mixer tilts. End to end... vs. side to side... the implication being that the end to end provide more effective mixing. Any comments / opinions / experience / or recommendations you can share? Thanks! Deb