Pneumatic tubes yet again

[ghentt]

Hi from down under.... We are building a new greenfield $1.7 billion 1000 bed tertiary hospital. We currently just send blood to OR in a PTS but in the new hospital all our blood products will be sent by PTS (65 stations).

I have been asking questions regarding the G-forces involved on the CBBS and so far have only had answer.

When I read about what can happens with a faulty PTS carrying blood samples I am concerned that we know so little about what happens at 25mph in the tubes.( Clinical Biochemistry Volume 42, Issue 12, August 2009, Pages 1265-1269)

Now I read with interest a post on this site :

"Our pneumatic tube system cannot be used to send 'high-protein' medications per the manufacturer and our pharmacy dept. (Apparently the high air-pressure slamming can denature the protein.)"

Now I am confused, we are happy to send blood samples for complex analysis being subjected to "slamming" and often these are for antibody assays for example the blood bank antibody screen.We know the forces can be higher enough to hemolysis blood for assay if a fault occurs..

Does anybody under stand the science around not sending Rhogam in the PTS but it is OK for Red cells ,FFP and plats.

I have a device I am trying to use to measure the G-forces in the cannisters and map out the time moving and time stationary as a quality control and validation system. A prototype is working but does anyone know of a commercial product that does the same thing rather than inventing the wheel again!. My aim is to do comprehensive but easy daily QA on our new hosp PTS.

Looking forward to your comments

T

[Eoin]

Don't know of any device, but would love to know what you come up with. We don't send any blood / blood products or any samples that cannot be replaced (CSF etc). I know this is a pain in a large institution, but works for us in a smaller hosp, and we have a remote issue fridge. Have heard of a blood unit splitting in a PTS and apparently it took two days to clean out and disinfect.

The force on the samples is another issue for thought.

Let us know what you find.

Sorry that I cannot be of more help.

Regards

Eoin (orig from down under but up over for abt 8 years now.)

[clmergen]

We send many units through our system daily for the last 4 years and have never had one break.

[Packer Banker]

We've never had a unit break, or had any hemolysis issues related to the translogic system. But, our hospital is MUCH smaller than the one you're building. Are the translogic speeds higher when the travel distance is longer? We also don't send body fluids anymore, but it's more so they don't get stuck somewhere and because people don't know how to put caps on:rolleyes:. (too bad we send urines...)

[kate murphy]

We use a p-tube for sending blood all over. As for not sending high protein meds, I don't think the proteins denature so much as produce lots of foam. That's why most p-tube manufacturers advise against it. You cannot ensure that the med dose is accurate with all the foam in the vial.

When we validated our tube system, we tested time of transport, hct and temp for the farthest station. AABB has a good small booklet on p-tube validation.