nmpoupard

You must have a policy for emergency release when the patient's identity is unknown. Can this be adapted to the situation with the ECMO newborns? All regulatory agencies require bedside comparison of the components being transfused with the recipent identity: name and medical record number of the recipient compared to the information on the unit tag. This practice clearly violates the standards of AABB, TJC and CAP.

We had this situation occur at our institution. In our case, Mom was having a planned C-section and the infant was pre-registered and had a name and medical record number. We were able to tag the units with the baby's information and release O negative red blood cells and AB plasma and platelets using our emergency release protocol. If it is an emergency or your institution will not pre-register, do you have a protocol for a Jane or John Doe with temporary medical record numbers that could be used to tag units and then issue with the emergency release?

We recently purchased a Rotanta 460R (made by Hettich) tabletop centrifuge which will be used primarily to spin adsol units for removing the adsol. We are having trouble with UNBALANCE errors even when the units appear to be perfectly balanced by weight. Does anyone have any experience with this centrifuge??

I've worked at adult and children's hospitals and the policies were different. At the adult hospital we required that the patient be typed once per admission. At the children's hospital we accept historical blood types for platelet, plasma and cryo transfusions.

When in doubt, do without.

The company is coming out with a larger version of the 4OR cooler. They state that it will hold 8-12 units and hold the temperature for up to 18 hours. They are supposed to be available this month. Here's the link: http://www.credothermal.com/ORC_Specs.pdf

The HemoTemp II indicators need to be activated at or above 38 degrees. The MTS gel incubator is lower than that level. Has that been a problem? The heat block sold for use with the HemoTemp II recommends a temp range of 38-42 degrees for activation.

How do you deal with the cost of antigen typing donor units for the c antigen as a preventive measure?

In the presence of anti-E we would antigen type the patient for the c antigen. If we were unable to type the patient for c due to recent transfusions or pregnancy, we would test with an enzyme panel to rule out the presence of anti-c. Not very often, but often enough to be concerning, we would detect an anti-c in enzyme only in addition to the anti-E. This became our standard of practice.

If you are storing, issuing and tracking tissue in the Blood Bank: What is your criteria for accepting frozen (<-40C) tissue BACK into inventory once it has been issued?

We have a second order separate from the type,screen,DAT order that is specific to transfusion. As red cell transfusions are needed, the Dr. must place the transfusion order. There is no expiration on the transfusion order, so the same unit can be used for multiple transfusions until it expires or is used up.

Does anyone use the HemoTemp II for monitoring unit temperature? My staff finds this device difficult to interpret. Any suggestions for interpretation?