AuntiS

This is what we do, too! I was going to take a pic and post it, but you beat me too it!!! (can't take credit - the genius before me thought of it)

We don't wash - unless there is some type of discrepancy. Washing is the first step in our discrepancy investigation s

Interesting! Does anyone else have any experience with these? I won't even look at Comark (thanks Auntie-D!), I see Lascar has a bunch of different options as does Dickson... I need to purchase new thermometers for our fridges/freezers/incubators now anyway, so this is an exciting option! s

Never even thought of using Velcro!!!! I, like Dr. Pepper, have a label maker. I have labeled the crap out of everything!!! I LOVE it! (I'm sure the techs do too ) s

We use it in Chemistry here as well. Never thought of using it any where else! Never had the need for it... s

My humble opinion??? Loving the new version!!! Looks great! Thanks for all of your hard work

Interesting... I like that you change the expiry date, but how do you make sure the nurse transfusing the blood gets the unit in before the 4 hour expiry? I mean, they should know to transfuse all units of blood within 4 hours of issue from the lab. But, if it is issued at 3 hours from the lab, they only have an hour. How do you make sure that happens? BTW, we discard all units returned that are >10 ºC. Side question: do the people in the USA use degrees Celsius? Just dawned on me that I've never seen Fahrenheit on this board! s

We just give Rh Neg units here if the antibody is from only RhIG. No IAT XM required. s

We really like our here. No problems either s

In what world do surgeons/anesthesia review charts prior to the surgery? LOL! But... great point! Speaking of tunnel vision - we really aren't the only department in the lab. I mean, obviously we are the most important... We are lucky enough to have a Blood Conservation Coordinator here in our hospital, so a lot of the elective surgeries are seen quite far out s

So... why is there a push to go from 30 to 3 days? For everyone else who has 3/7/10 days for PREOP patients, why? Is it a historical "we've always done it this way" thing? Has there been a problem? Do you worry you aren't getting a proper transfusion history? We are a medium sized community hospital. Not too big, not too small. But, I cannot imagine the chaos if all our PREOP samples were only good for 3 days! anti-s

We do cards as well. We attach the card to a letter that we send to the physician. Hopefully (!!!) the physician reads the letter, explains everything to the patient and then gives the card tot he patient. 1. we do issue a new one if there is a new antibody 2. we issue one every time we have a new antibody to our hospital 3. we keep a copy of the letter/card on the patien't file 4. only clinically significant antibodies Sometimes people wander into our hospital with a card from another facility AND let the phlebotomist know. But, I often wonder if most people forget they even have it. I LOVE the idea of the hospital business cards! Something to look into!!!! Thanks! Meditech can generate a "card". It is not the prettiest card tho s

Good morning! Does your Institution routinely perform a Type and Screen on ALL women coming in to deliver?No. Routine moms get a sample drawn, but the ABO and Rh are only performed if we don't have a blood group history (for RHIG purposes). Does it routinely perform a Type and Screen only on c-sections (then other patients, only if Physician feels a need to for some reason)?Yes, C-Sections get a Group and Screen. We don't do it automatically, they order it. And, yes, for any other patient the physician wants done. Is the testing at delivery, totally a case by case protocol (so nothing standard)?Mom testing? as above in #1. s

We use 28 days if not pregnant/transfused here (plus the sample can be used up to 7 days post op) for a total of 35 days. If there is any doubt, we get a new sample. Also... we only use this for preop patients. Any other patient defaults back to 96 hours (i.e. admitted in thru ER) s

Ours says something similar - to start transfusion within 30 minutes of pickup from TM. And complete within 4 hours. If they call and say there was a problem with the IV and they haven't started it yet, we always tell them they can keep the blood as long as it is complete within the 4 hours from the pickup. That being said... it specifically states that everything should be in place and ready to go BEFORE they pick up the blood, so there shouldn't be a delay s

I am curious about the medical oversight of your blood bank. If you have the time and inclination, please take this little survey. 1. Is your medical director solely a clinical pathologist or does he/she do anatomic pathology as well? both 2. If your medical director also practices anatomic AND clinical pathology, what proportion of his/her time is spent on each? almost all AP 3. Does you medical director review all your QC? no 4. How many beds does your hospital have? 190 (community hospital) 5. About how many red cells does your facility transfuse per month? 280 s

Hey... there are lots of us out here who still use tube! s

it is in our proceudre to send out a weak reacting (<2+) in tube anti-D if the patient is a woman of childbearing age. They are treated as Rh negative and recieve Rh Immune Globulin until the testing comes back to confirm the patient's blood group. FYI - we haven't yet had to send one out! s

We always run a screen first as well. I LIKE the idea of running a selected panel only, but... we are a core lab. I feel like every time you modifiy or change a routine practice you are looking for trouble. So, we keep it as is s

Well, we haven't been asked to store this yet.... I thought one of the many perks of TM was getting away from urine and stool samples!!!!!

I have been following this topic because.... I have worked in TM for 14 years and have ALWAYS used a microscope to read negative reactions! Four different hospital labs - all use a microscope. I can't be the only one? s

THIS is exactly where I want us to end up Soon!!!! s

I can tell you what we do here... For any preoperative patients, we follow the Maximum Surgical Blood Order list and XM whatever is required (if required or only a GS) for the type of surgery. We hold them for a maximum of 48 hours - but in reality is usually less time because we take them down the morning after their day of surgery. For any patient with an antibody, we automatically crossmatch 2 units so that there is no delay in providing compatible blood, if needed. I cannot WAIT to go to computer crossmatch (issue?? so that we don't have ANY blood sitting on shelves for patient's with no antibody history! s

No problems here (so far)...

This was my understanding as well. According to our Biorad rep... He said the gel cards are the same - manufactured in different locations (by different companies) but the same. The cells, however... are different? We are about to start validating Ortho cells (Screening and Panel) vs Biorad. Time will tell...... s