BankerGirl Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 We once had a family that went to the grocery store and bought a package of diapers. When they were unpacking them at home, there was (they were sure) blood on the package. They were sure that it was human blood, even though they bought several packages of meat that were obviously bloody, and they wanted proof so they could complain to the store. They brought the diapers in for us to test to see if it was, indeed human blood. When we told them that we had no way of telling what species the blood was, they said "the doctor told us you could." They were very disappointed with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 We once had a family that went to the grocery store and bought a package of diapers. When they were unpacking them at home, there was (they were sure) blood on the package. They were sure that it was human blood, even though they bought several packages of meat that were obviously bloody, and they wanted proof so they could complain to the store. They brought the diapers in for us to test to see if it was, indeed human blood. When we told them that we had no way of telling what species the blood was, they said "the doctor told us you could." They were very disappointed with us.I'm not advocating that you do this for one moment (particularly as it would not be a validated test), but there is a possibility (not a probability) that you could have done this.If you had "dissolved" the blood stain in a tiny bit of saline, then you would have also have "dissolved" some plasma. The resultant liquid could then be centrifuged to get rid of any cell debris. This liquid could then be used to inhibit anti-human globulin, used with red cells known to be coated with an IgG. If the AHG did not cause agglutination, then the plasma was from a human. If it did cause agglutination, then the plasma came from the meat.This test would be extremely difficult to control, and would presuppose that the family were not cannibals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BankerGirl Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I'm not advocating that you do this for one moment (particularly as it would not be a validated test), but there is a possibility (not a probability) that you could have done this.If you had "dissolved" the blood stain in a tiny bit of saline, then you would have also have "dissolved" some plasma. The resultant liquid could then be centrifuged to get rid of any cell debris. This liquid could then be used to inhibit anti-human globulin, used with red cells known to be coated with an IgG. If the AHG did not cause agglutination, then the plasma was from a human. If it did cause agglutination, then the plasma came from the meat.This test would be extremely difficult to control, and would presuppose that the family were not cannibals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:DMalcolm,Like I said, we had no way of knowing. And I had not considered the cannibalistic aspect! If I remember, we did perform occult blood testing, but I cannot remember what the results were. We also had a chat with the physician after that evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Malcolm,Like I said, we had no way of knowing. And I had not considered the cannibalistic aspect! If I remember, we did perform occult blood testing, but I cannot remember what the results were. We also had a chat with the physician after that evening.I think your last sentence was the best thing to do; far better than the ravings of a Croydon-based lunatic!!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbostock Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 This just in...a nurse from our Mother/Baby unit called to see if our DAT machine was down. Because we have had too many positives lately. So I asked our "machine", who we refer to as Brenda, and she confirmed that all of the babies were type A and B, and all of the moms were type O.***loud sigh*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayinsat Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 I'm not advocating that you do this for one moment (particularly as it would not be a validated test), but there is a possibility (not a probability) that you could have done this.If you had "dissolved" the blood stain in a tiny bit of saline, then you would have also have "dissolved" some plasma. The resultant liquid could then be centrifuged to get rid of any cell debris. This liquid could then be used to inhibit anti-human globulin, used with red cells known to be coated with an IgG. If the AHG did not cause agglutination, then the plasma was from a human. If it did cause agglutination, then the plasma came from the meat.This test would be extremely difficult to control, and would presuppose that the family were not cannibals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:DMalcolm, Blood Banker by day, Crime scene investigator by night, diaper-blood examiner in-between. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Malcolm, Blood Banker by day, Crime scene investigator by night, diaper-blood examiner in-between.NO, please, NO!!!!!!!I still have nightmares about changing my 10-year-old son's nappies when he was at that stage in life.Until then, I thought I had a fairly poor sense of small: he changed that idea pretty smartly!!!:eek::eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1882 Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 During an AABB inspection one of our "Newer" techs was being asked questions by the inspector. The inspector asked if we perform QC on our reagent racks daily..... He picks up the rack and says, well its plastic so I dont know what kind of testing we could do on it? (He was a little nervous.)The inspector was nearly on the ground laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcdayaz Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Seeing Mary Ann's post erminded me of the time that we received a diaper from NICU with a little spot of blood in it. They wanted to know whether the blood belonged to the baby because they suspected the mother of putting the blood there. Couldn't we just type it? I had to explain that we needed liquid blood for typing (not to mention a sample of blood from mother and child for comparison). If they wanted to identify blood in a diaper they would have to send it to the state forensics lab (and even then I'm not sure if they would get the answer they needed). I never found out the outcome of that case.Wow! Scary! Both of my boys had this happen. Yes, I said BOYS!! With my first boy I freaked out and called his nursery nurse into the hospital room when I saw blood in his diaper. She calmly told me it was very normal and very frequent for even a male child to have one "period". My experience was just a "spot" of blood also.Apparently it is due to our hormones being transferred to them? I know..sounds crazy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcdayaz Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 During an AABB inspection one of our "Newer" techs was being asked questions by the inspector. The inspector asked if we perform QC on our reagent racks daily..... He picks up the rack and says, well its plastic so I dont know what kind of testing we could do on it? (He was a little nervous.)The inspector was nearly on the ground laughing.I am also almost on the ground laughing!! This one is great!! Godd thing you had an inspector with a good sense of humor!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dherbert Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Reading the bizarre diaper request (too much TV I say) made me remember this story. I don't know if around the world we are all the same but being a 24 hour lab, the switchboard used to put all of the odd calls through to us in the Blood Bank. Anyway, early one morning (~2am) I get a call from Joe Public asking me whether he could bring me a funnel web spider in so that I could milk the venom. After all I was a serology laboratory and could use it apparently. Needless to say I declined! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adiescast Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Ah, John Q Public...We got a call on third shift in the transfusion service my first year from a guy who wanted to know how long you could detect cocaine in the blood. We told the supervisor she should have said "Forever." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C. Staley Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Very very very long ago, my first job in a hospital was graveyard ER admissions clerk. This job helped pay rent and buy beer while I was attending my first round of higher education. Anyway the phone calls and stories from theat time in my life are endless but one of my all time favorites was when a young lady called and asked how long it took for the rabbit to die!! I told her it depended on if we shot it or strangled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adiescast Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Very very very long ago, my first job in a hospital was graveyard ER admissions clerk. This job helped pay rent and buy beer while I was attending my first round of higher education. Anyway the phone calls and stories from theat time in my life are endless but one of my all time favorites was when a young lady called and asked how long it took for the rabbit to die!! I told her it depended on if we shot it or strangled it.What? No lethal injection? SPCA may get after you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marla Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Malcolm, Blood Banker by day, Crime scene investigator by night, diaper-blood examiner in-between.My worst-ever diaper had varmints in it. The thing was full of Ascaris - you'd think that might have been a clue as to the baby's problem. The doc ordered a culture and O&P, but it was impossible to determine the presence of other parasites with such a heavy roundworm infestation. Worm that baby STAT! Evidence-based medicine: Hah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L106 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Marla -Wish I hadn't read your post just before going to lunch!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BankerGirl Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 When my youngest daughter was 2 my husband took our girls to my inlaws cabin at the lake. Being 2, she wasn't very good at keeping her mouth closed, and she got Giardia from swallowing the lake water. I called the pediatrician's office on a Friday afternoon to report that her O & P came up positive and the nurse said that our doctor was out of the country. The physician on call wanted the O & P times three, because that is what she always ordered. I told the nurse how ridiculous that was since we already knew from the first specimen what the problem was. The nurse calmly said,"Well, she didn't say that I couldn't call the medicine in NOW!" I really loved that nurse, and I "forgot" to collect the other two specimens. I swore I would never see that pediatrician for anything ever again. Fortunately, she (the doc) left town a few years after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Marla -Wish I hadn't read your post just before going to lunch!!!Don't tell me that you use the same caterers as the NHSBT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I didn't know they were international suppliers.:eek::eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcdayaz Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Very very very long ago, my first job in a hospital was graveyard ER admissions clerk. This job helped pay rent and buy beer while I was attending my first round of higher education. Anyway the phone calls and stories from theat time in my life are endless but one of my all time favorites was when a young lady called and asked how long it took for the rabbit to die!! I told her it depended on if we shot it or strangled it.Ha!My first job after college as a "real" MT was graveyards also--by myself I might add...Anyway, all the ancillary service people would hang out in the ER lounge if we weren't busy. We were all gathered around the pizza we had ordered when in ran this fairly young girl excitedly telling EVERYONE that she had a "rub.er" stuck and needed help!!!! I still remember the look on her face 17 years later!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John C. Staley Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 You win!!!! I'm still chuckling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 This isn't actually a Blood Transfusion-related "Just For Fun", but many years ago, when I was working in the Blood Transfusion Department at Westminster Medical School, some spotty herbert of a medical student came rushing into the Laboratory one evening with severed finger in a steel bowl. Apparently, they wanted to try to sew said digit back onto the patient's hand, but needed to keep it cold prior to the surgery.He asked me if I had any ice, to which the answer was "No".Didi I know where he may be able to get some, and so I suggested the pub across the road, The Paviour's Arms."Oh great" he says and charges off.I later learned that he had indeed shot across to our local hostelry to ask for ice, but had taken the severed finger with him (which emptied the bar quicker than a fire alarm)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trek Tech Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ok, I'll bite....what is a spotty herbert? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 Ok, I'll bite....what is a spotty herbert?It's just a term we use over here for a young man with acne (not very flattering I'm afraid). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodag Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 I suggested the pub across the road, The Paviour's Arms.Obviously you should have sent him to the Paviour's Finger. Better luck next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Needs ☆ Posted December 17, 2009 Share Posted December 17, 2009 love it!!!!!!!:d:d:d:d:d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now