Receiving blood from another facility with a trauma patient

[butlermom 29]

What do you do when you receive blood from another facility that comes with a trauma patient who is brought to your facility? The blood came in a Styrofoam cooler with the solid ice packs that our supplier uses in their red cell transport boxes. The units are from the same blood supplier that we use.

Thanks for your insight.

Kathryn 

[John C. Staley 1,193]

Personally, I never had a problem receiving in blood like you described as long as it met all the requirements that we required from out supplier.  On the other hand I knew facilities that would discard any and all blood that was received from outside with out any thought.  I considered this a dreadful waste of a precious resource!   Just curious but did the blood have any of the temperature monitors attached to the units?  If so, that could help you make the decision.  

Having said all that, I have been out of the world for a while and many things have changed since I was intimately involved in the art of transfusion medicine so there may be some new regulations that can provide guidance for this well beyond my opinions.  I look forward to read what others have to say on the subject. 

[BankerGirl 214]

If it is from the same supplier we use and packed appropriately, I have no problem accepting the blood into our inventory.  I contact the transferring facility for a transfer form if they did not pack one.  

[slsmith 68]

If the supplier is the one we use and the product is packed appropriately we bring it into the inventory, notify the sending facility and notify the blood supplier.

If the blood comes from the other supplier which we don't have a contract with we notify the sending facility that we don't bring this supplier into our inventory and asked them what they want to do. Either we can send it back to them at their cost or if our couriers go to their facility we can send the product back to them . Of they can asked the blood supplier if they want it back (sometime they do as we share a parking lot with them). 

Don't ask why we don't use the blood supplier we share a parking lot with.  Long  sad story. 

[butlermom 29]

John, no, there were no temperature monitors attached. Also, our supplier says they cannot accept it back because it was transferred within facilities. I do hate wasting the units, however, I cannot 100% guarantee the storage conditions of the units during transport. Specifically, were they removed at any time for a prolonged period of time then put back into the cooler. As much as I hate to discard them, I believe the safety risk outweighs the benefit of keeping them.

Thank you all for your responses.

[dcubed 18]

Treat as a transfer between hospitals.  When we were asked to send product with a patient to another facility we would fill out a transfer form to go in the box and pack per our suppliers instructions.

[BBfuntimes 4]

What are your rules if blood from another facility is hanging when patient enters your facility?  Is nursing allowed to finish the unit or is it stopped?  thanks.

[Ensis01 127]

13 hours ago, BBfuntimes said:

What are your rules if blood from another facility is hanging when patient enters your facility?  Is nursing allowed to finish the unit or is it stopped?  thanks.

Finish the unit.