BankerGirl

Susan, Which pp of 5.67 are you on? If it is high enough (maybe pp24 or so) you can utilize the barcode verification at issue option. If not, then the only way I know to do this is by adding the product code to your compatibility tag as ESIZENSKY stated. That is what we did originally.

I really don't know what kind of drugs they were giving. We didn't think to ask.

I have also seen neonates with strong reactions to anti-A and weak reactions to anti-B. I did additional testing to confirm that it was a true anti-B reaction and not something non-specific but never was able to obtain a later sample to see if the strength of the reaction was any different. Case 2: unless I missed something, there is no evidence of hemolysis, correct? I would hesitate to call a hemolytic reaction without evidence of actual hemolysis. Was the pre-transfusion sample drawn prior to the chemotherapy? We have had two cases where the patient was sent over for type and cross after chemo for RC transfusions and pre-transfusion testing showed pan-reactivity. When we brought the patient back in the next day to draw additional sample for our reference lab the reactivity was gone. We never performed an eluate since the second sample was negative so I don't know what to thing about the anti-Lua reactivity, other than what Malcolm said about it possibly being from a different product.

We do the same as CSP0102 unless the physician specifically orders one, usually if the baby is jaundiced the next day.

I built it. I just saw a demo for version 6.16 that we will be changing to next year and it has the scanning verification that will be very nice!

It is built in Issue Component. I initially built it in Component Processing but wasn't happy with it for some reason that I can't remember at the moment.

It is simply a statement that says "All labels applied to this Component have been verified" and they have to answer Yes to proceed.

Hi Susan, I have only been able to get it somewhere between 2301 and 2359 based on rules. Meditech was not helpful at all. If the specimen was collected exactly on the hour, then it will expire at midnight. However, if it was collected any time after the top of the hour, it is 23xx (coll time = 1220, then it expires at 2320; if at 0501, then it expires at 2301).

We have one form for both Emergency Release and Incompatible transfusion. We have a blank line that we fill in with the reason for release and then the tech, ordering physician, and pathologist must all sign and date the form.

I just looked at ours and they do not have this statement anywhere on the box. We use Cat. SP1290-2 and Cat. SP1290-3 from Cardinal.

This is how we do it also, except for platelets. We don't require a blood type prior to platelet transfusion unless the physician requests type specific and we do not already have a blood type on the patient. For neonates, we use type AB if we don't already have a sample to type. We would not stick for this patient population.

Yes, Malcolm, that is what I meant. Even when we are trying to do things right, they sometimes go wrong...with blood bank typing AND message typing.

All of our outpatients are banded, even for routine testing per lab protocol, with the exception of our satellite lab at the cancer center across the street. If the patient is often anemic, however, they will band them as well and we have that positive ID trace. Yes, banding patients is no guarantee that accidents will occur, but I would not want to go back to handwritten tubes. The number of redraws due to manual errors was much greater and it didn't stop the nurses from labeling at the nurses station, before or after collection, or copying the wrong patient's info from the wrong paperwork left in the room.

In my opinion, "unique" does not equal "independent". We used to require handwritten blood bank tubes but switched to allow computer generated specimen labels. The impetus for this change was the acquisition of hand-held phlebotomy scanners which printed the labels at the bedside after scanning the patient's wristband, however we had surgery personnel begging us to allow pre-printed labels for years because they cannot generally access the patient's wristband once the procedure has started and they often misspelled, copied, and omitted information. Additionally, some people's handwriting is atrocious! We have so many fewer headaches now that we made this change!

We just added a required customer defined screen that asks if we verified all labeling. Being able to scan it as a double check would be WONDERFUL!

I had all of the same questions as DebbieL regarding spreadsheets. We keep our Automation QC electronically, but the manual reagents are all still on paper.

It would seem that we are in the minority in that we perform a type and screen prior to ANY RhIG administration. Hmmm.

No problems so far.

Sandra, Our previous computer systems were all converted in one of two ways into Meditech. Meditech won't utilize the type from these systems as a second type but they are viewable in the BBK History as either comments or as conversion types. This is why we order the BTHX test. It is just a blood type and must be resulted manually.

We test our cord bloods on the Echo by removing an aliquot of the cells from the EDTA tube. We can usually get clot-free cells this way. Any small clots are removed prior to analyzing.

To answer Dan87, we use 10% because that's what we always have used. Not a good reason, I know, which is why I googled this after reading your question. I found one post that states the heat transfer characteristics of components is different, like Scott said. Then I dug further and found a statement in "Textbook of Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine" that said water is acceptable because it is less dense than the blood components and would, therefore, fluctuate faster than the blood components and allow action to be taken before said components would actually be affected. SO, I think we will stick with 10% since mostly what we have is packed red cells.

We also bought our glycerin from the local pharmacy. Dilute it to 10% with water. I keep a diluted bottle in the refrigerator for top-offs and the concentrate at room temp.

We use 4x4 inch adhesive labels printed out of Meditech. We purchase them from PDC Healthcare, I believe, and they are FDA approved for use on blood bags. Removing them is usually not an issue if the label hasn't been on for more than a few hours but if they are returned and placed back in the refrigerator overnight, then they can be nearly impossible to remove intact. The adhesive seems to really like the cold, as well as certain platelet pheresis bags.

I initially brought up the subject after noticing that a nursing student co-signed a transfusion. Our risk manager made the decision after some discussion (we don't employee LPNs in nursing roles here). Granted, the nurses and physicians don't always know what blood types are compatible, but they are not shy about calling to ask us, and I don't know that a nursing student or similarly trained person would even notice the difference. As for issuing from BB, we do the same as kate murphy.