fenwayman

Of course, K+ does increase as the unit sits on the shelf. I worked at a facility where one of our cardio-thoracic surgeon ALWAYS asked for fresh, less than or equal to 7 day old blood. We nicknamed him Dr. Fresh!

Are you using a sterile dock device? If so, it should be good to expiration

should have at least 2 ABO/Rh types for issue/transfusion of ANY blood/blood products

If they have formed Anti-E, then most probably they have been exposed to c, so you should also type for c to determine what type of units you need as you may need to set R1R1 to prevent them from forming Anti-c.

Brenda, here is some more info on the f antigen that I found quite helpful. The f antigen, an example of a compound antigen, is expressed on RBCs having c (RH4) and e (RH5) antigens in the same haplotype (in cis), for example, R1r (DCe/dce), R0R0 [Dee/Dee], etc. The antigen is not expressed when c and e occur on separate haplotypes (in trans), e.g., R1R2 (DCe/DcE). However, RBCs of some people with the De- phenotype express f. Anti-f is frequently a component of sera containing anti-c or anti-e. Anti-f is useful in distinguishing DCE/dce from DCe/DcE. Apparent anti-f in Blacks may be anti-hr's (see RH19). Anti-f frequently fade in vitro and in vivo.

why would donor units get released to product management with incomplete testing(antibody screen) for shipment to your local hospitals and I am not sure why you do the minor crossmatch. It seems to me if the unit is DAT+, all your minor xmatches would be incompatible as David suggests. Seems to me that I would want to ensure your facility that does the donor testing would include an antibody screen on all units prior to release and investigate any units that are DAT+.

i need a way to validate the process of using igloo coolers for temporary storage in the operating room. We have been using the coolers for years and perform semiannual QC of each cooler by checking the temperature of units in each cooler. We were recently cited by the FDA for not validating the process. :mad: Anyone have any ideas??

My Blood Bank has many refrigerators in that we have an UNCROSSMATCHED, CROSSMATCHED, AUTOLOGOUS/DIRECTED DONORS, REAGENT, UNTAGGED. The UNTAGGED is only used as temporary storage for units while they are being crossmatched. We keep specimens in the bottom of our REAGENT refrigerator and we separate our Surgical specimens from the others. The other refrigerators are used solely based on the name we have given them. In our AUTO/DD refrigerator, only those types of units are ever in that refrigerator. We do stock factor and have a spot in our REAGENT refrigerator.(this particular refrigerator is a 3-door refrigerator) Hope this helps. Live long and prosper!

Immucor has a great C3b,C3d control!

On initial ABID Titer we perform the titer in duplicate along with an ABID. With subsequent specimens we perform a Titer on the previous specimen and the one just received along with a new ABID, in essence, we always perform the Titers in duplicate along with an ABID.

Outside of Rh+ to a Rh- (usually pltpheresis) we don't need to have our BB path sign what we call our "situational" form. But to get path approval for O prbc's to an A, B, or even AB patient is utter nonsense and probable cause for transfusion delay.

We will collect samples and hold up to 21 days prior to OR date as long as there have been no transfusions/pregnancies in the last 3 months.

rbc: </=8/24 ffp: INR >1.8 platelet: <20000 rbc for Cardiac patients/Cardiac dx: target h/h: 10/30 cryo: fib <100 OR always alvailable for intraop bleed we use a prospective blood review where we look for results prior to transfusion and hold physicians accountable for unjustified transfusions. It was "real touchy" at first as some of the staff were reluctant to abide by the rules. Though, overtime most are now players once they realized how we, the Transfusion Service bothe the patients and the hospital a significant savings.

I work at a multi system hospital that has always employed computer generated labels. I prefer them to hand written for several reasons 1)legibility-no mistake on who the patient is and their mr# 2)clerical errors-opens the door to errors in interpretation of who you are dealing with. 3) label at the bedside-we had a case several years ago where the nurse had collected a patient in a semi-private room(patient had one room mate) and labelled both patients blood work at the nursing station which lead to a sentinel event-patient eventually died as a result of not labeling at the bedside-can't imagine this practice would even go on anywhere. I would try all I could do to convince your director to switch from hand written to computer generated and push for Labeling at The Bedside

We treat all our patients the same and perform a Type and screen when we receive the specimen(s) for pre-admission testing. When the autologous units arrive we log them into our system(Cerner), bill charges and perform an IS crossmatch, you never know when Cousin "Botch" and Uncle "Nick" will arrive to complicate things. Better to be safe than sorry.