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We only perform weak D on new patients who have no historical type.

We have a list of walking donors who can be called the day they are needed to donate. But we do not cut corners with testing. Their blood/platelet products go through the same rigorous testing that "Joe the Plumber" has. You just can take chances.

We perform a ABORh for the first platelet or FFP order on a new specimen.

We expire samples at 72 hours no matter the history. The exception is neonates in which we keep the sample until they are 4 months old or are discharged to outpatient.

The medical record number is required by CAP. All of our sample labels are computer generated so the patient name, medical record number, and a accession number is always on the label.

We use preprinted, computer generated, labels. The patient also has a blood bank ID bracelet which one of the numbers MUST be attached to the specimen. We also use electronic PPID which helps prevent mislabels. The nurse will scan the patient's armband, then the medical record number on the label. If there is a mismatch then the user gets an error message. We also require sample labeling at bedside.

We only infuse platelets based on patient blood type, Rh does not matter. For example, O patient can receive any type platelet products. A patients receive A or we volume reduce other types and so on. The only type of platelets we transfuse are plateletpheresis.

I worked with two medical students named Hurt and Butcher.

Our Blood Bank is segregated from the rest of the lab (behind a wall) so the noise is what we generate in the room. The only rule we have about interruptions is when we dispense a product. If we are interrupted in the middle of a dispense, we have to start over. So if anyone of us is dispensing, and someone goes to talk with us, we usually hold up a finger (index) and give the "1 minute please." The joke then becomes, "I have to wait, I just got the finger." If a radio is too loud, then we politely ask them to turn it down.

We ship the majority of our blood products through a pneumatic tube station. Blood Bank and the OR have the highest priority meaning if we hit the Send button, the system stops any other tubes from entering the system until the Blood Bank tube is delivered. For products that have to be hand delivered (syringe, saline resuspended, washed) the RN, LPN, or health unit coordinator can pick up blood. The paperwork, that goes with the unit, is two part so we can see who picked up the product and time and who hung the product and time.

I am in the process of validating our Hematology analyzers to perform platelet counts on platelet rich plasma from our plateletphersis. Has anyone ever done this? If so, can you share what you did to validate, the statistical methods you used, and your acceptable criteria? The analyzer does not matter. I don't want to reinvent the wheel if I don't have to. Thanks!

We use a Iris urinalysis analyzer. If the dipstick is positive for blood then the sample is aspirated by another part of the instrument, passed through a flow cell and digital pictures taken for the tech to review. Beats spinning them.

Our HemaTrax is set up on our hospital network but can only be accessed by Blood Bank personnel. We have one dedicated computer, that is set up on a different hospital server, for downtime of the network. We use a general username and password, so that everyone can log in, and we have not had any problems thus far.

We reserve one unit per patient to reduce donor exposure. If the unit is close to expiring, and we can use the unit for another patient, we will release the product from the neonate and set the unit up for another patient so that we do not loose the unit.

We use a second ABORh typing rack with a different manufacturer of typing reagent. A second tech performs the type recheck using the different reagents. If only one tech is in Blood Bank (mostly midnight shift) then the same tech can retype the sample since a different set of reagent is used.