Blood Type cards for patients?

[ffriesen]

Do any of your facilities issue a card to patients with their blood type and or antibody information on it? We have had a suggestion that we start doing this. Any feedback is appreciated.

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

Do any of your facilities issue a card to patients with their blood type and or antibody information on it? We have had a suggestion that we start doing this. Any feedback is appreciated.

Yes.

In the UK, cards are issued to all patients who have clinically significant antibodies (and some to those who have clinically insignificant, but serologically "difficult" antibodies, such as anti-Ch), to pregnant women who are D Negative, to some transfusion-dependent patients with, for example, sickle cell disease, with their full blood type from ABO and Rh, through to Kidd, and to patients who are IgA deficient, and who have made anti-IgA. I think that is the lot (off the top of my head), but there may be others.

They seem to work very well in some groups, but not so well in others.

The antibody cards, for example, vary from those individuals who never carry them (or discard them), or, if they do carry them, never show them to anyone when they are admitted to hospital (really useful!), to those that have had them since the year dot (and carry around these moth-eaten, dog-eared old cards that, to be honest, are so difficult to read, they are almost useless.

Overall, I am very much in favour. I know of one lady who carried around a card stating that she had anti-Coa, which had been given to her 10 years previously, and this helped us immensely (despite the fact that, by then, she had also produced an anti-Doa) {nice case, by the way].

:):)

[Steven Jeff]

And the cards are very much appretiated by the laboratory staff and patients who show an interest. When we receive the report and the card from the NBS reference laboratory we send the card out to the patient with a standard letter signed by our Consultant Haematologist. Sometimes the patient will ring back to ask for further information.

However, the downside is as Malcolm alludes to, they don't always show them to anybody at the hospital when they come in. My biggest gripe is saved for the pre-assessment clinics who do not always ask for any transfusion or pregnancy history when the patients have a card. We do the workup, then on contacting the patient find they have a history.

Other than that I think they work very well.

Regards

Steve

:)

[AMcCord]

Another problem is that the patient will faithfully carry the card around and present it to his/her nurse upon admission. The nurse will neatly chart the information, but they seldom seem to imagine that it might be useful to tell the Blood Bank about what the card says. OR (my personal favorite) they hang 2 units of blood and then call down and tell us about the card and say "You didn't need to know about that did you?"!!!.

[rcollins]

I like this idea. I don't know of anyone around here who uses them but they would be really helpful sometimes...especially for the rare antibodies or people with multiples. Perhaps if on the back it said in big letters "Immediately present card to hospital staff. Important Blood Bank information!" or "Do not transfuse blood products before presenting card to Blood Bank staff" or something like that it would be used more efficiently. I have found that patients are really interested in their antibodies and what it means to have an antibody.

[Steven Jeff]

Another valuable property of the card issued by the Blood Transfusion service in the UK is its unique reference number. Quote this reference number to any one of the NBS reference centres in the UK and they can extract the serology history from their computer system. I believe that is how it works, never had the opportunity to test it yet, i.e. all the cards I have seen have been local.

Steve

;)

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

Another valuable property of the card issued by the Blood Transfusion service in the UK is its unique reference number. Quote this reference number to any one of the NBS reference centres in the UK and they can extract the serology history from their computer system. I believe that is how it works, never had the opportunity to test it yet, i.e. all the cards I have seen have been local.

Steve

;)

Yes, it does work like that Steve (usually)!!!!!!

:D

[Steven Jeff]

We can do this in our small country (UK). I am quickly learning to appreciate from the correspondance on BBT the challenges faced by our colleagues in the US, Canada, China, Australia and many other countries that I apologise for not mentioning.

Steve

:)

Edited January 23, 2010 by Steven Jeff
spelling

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

We can do this in our small country (UK). I am quickly learning to appreciate from the correspondance on BBT the challenges faced by our colleagues in the US, Canada, China, Australia and many other countries that I apologise for not mentioning.

Steve

:)

I agree absolutely with what you say Steve.

I think that, often, rather than sometimes, we forget just how small the UK is compared with other countries, possibly (or even, probably) because of the history of the "British Empire". I think that we should also remember that there is not a Great Britain and Northern Ireland computer system, but each country's Blood Service (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) has a computer system that does not "talk" to each other.

When you consider that many of the States of the United States of America dwarf the UK, and, having flow over the Gobi Desert, just how huge is China, the chances of any of these countries having a similar system to ours is zero (I've never been to the USA, Canada or Australia, but, of course, I have seen their size on maps).

:):):)

[carolyn swickard]

I like this idea. I don't know of anyone around here who uses them but they would be really helpful sometimes...especially for the rare antibodies or people with multiples. Perhaps if on the back it said in big letters "Immediately present card to hospital staff. Important Blood Bank information!" or "Do not transfuse blood products before presenting card to Blood Bank staff" or something like that it would be used more efficiently. I have found that patients are really interested in their antibodies and what it means to have an antibody.

Yes - if we start using these - instructions to both the patients and the hospital personnel will be mandatory. We received a helpful card once - 2 days after we had delayed surgery and sent the specimen to a reference lab! Still, I like the idea even if there will be thousands of different types in the States. Also, the only numbers we could possibly use as identifiers would be DOB and SS# - thereby giving everyone another card from which thier identity could be stolen!

I would like to advocate that someone like the AABB start a national antibody database that could be accessible using the patient's name and SS# - that would really be useful and it shouldn't be impossibly onerous to input all new antibodies to the database(?!?) I can't imagine what the security would have to be on the site though, or what kind of liability insurance would be appropriate for the agency hosting the database. Oh well.....

[Marilyn Plett]

I can see at least one problem with a U.S. database. There are a lot of antibodies out there that have not been identified correctly. I once fielded a call from a hospital who wanted Kp(b-) Lu(b-) RBCs for a patient because those cells were all reactive on the panel! Turned out to be a cold agglutinin. If there was a database, I think it should only accept submissions from IRLs.

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

I can see at least one problem with a U.S. database. There are a lot of antibodies out there that have not been identified correctly. I once fielded a call from a hospital who wanted Kp(b-) Lu(b-) RBCs for a patient because those cells were all reactive on the panel! Turned out to be a cold agglutinin. If there was a database, I think it should only accept submissions from IRLs.

I agree with your last comment wholeheartedly.

:):)

[Steven Jeff]

It is the NBS Reference laboratories that maintain their serology database from whom the cards are issued, and rightly so!!!.

Steve

;)

[redstaff2003]

Steven

Our agency have been issuing blood cards for all donors and who visit our blood center to do thier blood type since then. The ID is somewhat use also as identification card it has the person name on it address, blood type, phone number and the owner's signature. the card that we issue is color coded depends on what the blood type of that person. At the back is you can put your picture on it and and persons name whom to notify in case of emergency and signature of the laboratory personnel who did the blood type. Well this just to give you an idea on what demographic that we put in our blood card.

It would be best and unique if you issue a blood card with a rare blood group or rare antibody on it. Well i guess in our part if we had this type of card well health providers may know the bearer's blood group or rare antibody present.

antonio m.

[AMcCord]

The photo and signature included on a blood card is a great idea.

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

The photo and signature included on a blood card is a great idea.

If I ever made an atypical antibody and then came to Nebraska, you may change your mind about the photograph!!!!!!!!!!!

:redface::redface:

[AMcCord]

Malcolm...we like to decorate for Halloween!

wink wink

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

Malcolm...we like to decorate for Halloween!

wink wink

Touche!!!!!!!!!!

:D:D:D:D

[younglau]

We send out cards to all patients with clinically significant antibodies or any other special requirements due to treatment or disease. For example BMT patients that require CMV negative or irradiated blood products. We also suggest for the most severe cases that they obtain a Medic Alert bracelet. Cards get lost or forgotten, the Medic-alert system is more easily recognized and a much more permanent record of the patients requirements.

[ANORRIS]

We used to use them but no longer do as it is considered private medical information. The patient must request their info from their physician or medical records.

[L106]

We used to use them but no longer do as it is considered private medical information. The patient must request their info from their physician or medical records.

Am I the only one that thinks we have gone a little overboard???

This rank right up there with the fact that U.S. universities will not divuldge a student's grades to the parents (who, in most cases, are paying the tuition) in order to "protect the student's privacy." (My folks would have said "You gain your right to privacy when you pay your own tuition!")

[ANORRIS]

WAY overboard, on many subjects. Totally agree!

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

WAY overboard, on many subjects. Totally agree!

Same here - WAY, WAY OVER.

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Trek Tech]

Yes - if we start using these - instructions to both the patients and the hospital personnel will be mandatory. We received a helpful card once - 2 days after we had delayed surgery and sent the specimen to a reference lab! Still, I like the idea even if there will be thousands of different types in the States. Also, the only numbers we could possibly use as identifiers would be DOB and SS# - thereby giving everyone another card from which thier identity could be stolen!

I would like to advocate that someone like the AABB start a national antibody database that could be accessible using the patient's name and SS# - that would really be useful and it shouldn't be impossibly onerous to input all new antibodies to the database(?!?) I can't imagine what the security would have to be on the site though, or what kind of liability insurance would be appropriate for the agency hosting the database. Oh well.....

Actually there is a new company doing just this in the USA. It is NPAR (National Patient Antibody Registry?) Look for it online. I saw them at AABB last year. There is a fee for being part of it that is too costly for my small facility. I have always dreamed of this becoming a reality but whether facilities will pay to participate is another thing altogether.

[MAGNUM]

Yes we do, but only for those with significant antibodies. The reasoning behind this is to help "me" out in the future when they come in again, or go to any other facility for transfusion. It helps if you know what you are dealing with before you actually have to deal with it.