bday

I have just went thru the decision of the Provue and the Echo...to me they both had their pros and cons...the Echo, I was concerned that we would go back to tube for backup method (we are currently on Gel) and the waste; the Provue, I was concerned with the Stats (even though you can load in the middle, the locking door makes it more of a batch analyzer) and the wastage of panel cells, if you were to run a panel on the Provue. I had previous experience with Immucor's Rosys and ABS2000, and had seen false positives in both gel and solid phase. In the end, we went with the Echo, due to it's stat capabilities, the panel capabilities, and the overall functionality. Plus, Immucor specializes in blood bank equipment and reagents! Unfortunately, we didn't look at the Tango.

I am looking at automation as well - I am hoping that the decrease in costs of reagents if we are billed at the "automation" level will justify the automation. In addition, we work 2 techs on daylight in a substantially busy blood bank, and can avoid increasing staff if I get automation... I am also from Western PA, and I went to Med Tech school with the old BB supervisor at your hospital!! Small world!! I'll keep you posted if I am successful...keep me posted on your progress...

Congrats

I am interested in hearing about your experiences with automation - we are looking at both the provue and the echo. Any comments, likes or dislikes would be appreciated. Please, no vendors, salespeople or consultants - I am looking for actual technologists, supervisors or managers who are utilizing automation! Thanks

and the murphy's law of blood bank - the chance that the new patient you are working on will have an antibody is directly proportional to how fast they need the blood!

When I trained, oh so many years ago, the rules were one patient at a time. We even had racks that could only hold the tubes needed for one patient at a time. As I began working in the real world, it has been as many as 15 at a time. I know the chances of mix ups increase when you increase the amount of samples that you work on, but if you follow the rules - identifying the sample with patient demographics on worksheets or computers, and the spin, read, record, the chances are few. When the JCAHO recommendation came out, we looked at it, but realistically, no hospital system can afford that many techs in a blood bank to meet that recommendation - if you can, bless your lucky stars, cause I certainly cannot!