Mindy

This isn't from the FDA but... Another BB supervisor I talk to often said her site will use small barcoded ABORH labels for cryo and Plt pools with different ABORH types in the pool. She said they will apply an ABORH label for each ABORH type in the pool. If the small barcoded ABORH labels do not fit in the section of the base label for ABORH type then the labels will be applied on the bag along the top or bottom of the base label. She did say that these labels have an FDA approved adhesive. I believe Shamrock makes this type of small barcoded ABORH labels. I also believe that SHamrock's BB labels meet FDA requirements for adhesive but check that out before purchasing.

What is your facility's policy on performing eluate on a cord blood specimen that is DAT positve? Currently, our policy is to perform an eluate when the mother has 2 or more unexpected antibodies or when pos DAT can not be explained by ABO incompatibility and mom's ABSC is neg. I'm thinking there is no point in doing the eluate at all since any blood transfused to the baby will be antigen neg for mom's antibodies and coombs crossmatched with mom's sample.

Hi, Teri. Your job does sound interesting. Who do you work for. Boy, would i love to get my ends on some rare antibody plasma!

Our MSBOS was done away with many years ago (before I came onboard). Unfortunately, as well as didcontinuing ordering XMs on surgical patients, the surgeons stopped ordering the T&S also. We've ended up doing to many stat T&S ordered by the anesthesiologist during the patient's surgery. We are now trying to institute a MINIMUM Surgical Blood Order Schedule. In other words, a list of surgeries that require a T&S prior to surgery. We have told the physicians they don't need to order XMs prior to OR that we can provide I.S. compatible units quickly. Just trying to get them to agree to the Minimum SBOS has generated as much discussion and disagreement as your Maximum SBOS.

We discovered at AABB that we are not meeting a CAP requirement for QC. Seems CAP requires ABSC QC to react 1-3+. We perform ABSC in gel, use 3% Ortho Surgiscreen diluted to 0.8% daily, and QC the system with Ortho Confidence system anti-sera (contains anti-D, -c). Our QC reactions are consistantly 4+. So, I've been playing around with dilutions trying to find the one that will give us a 1-3+ reaction. Unfortunately, the dilution that gives a 3+ reaction with the anti-c gives a negative reaction with anti-D. Has anyone out there been sited by CAP for this? Does anyone out there uses this same setup? Is anyone diluting their antisera. Am I going completely mad? Mindy

What kind of card is used and where do you get them?