EDibble

How strong was the reaction with the B cells? Did you let the reverse typing cells incubate at RT for 5 to 10 minutes? Sometimes that will allow a weak backtype to show up.

We also only do weak D testing on the babies of Rh neg moms, so a partial D in an adult would not be detected, and this person would be typed as Rh negative. They would of course receive Rh negative blood.

We have seen a great improvement in FFP utilization here. Almost always, patients getting FFP (outside of the OR) are also given Vitamin K injections. This seems to have reduced the number of units of FFP given.

I love the terms "anti-D ish" and "anti-Jka ish". :hooray::hooray::hooray:

I wasn't involved in the original purchase decision, but I believe it has to do with the fact that the platelets can be in constant agitation. You don't have to stop the motion of the rocker to add new units or take units off. It has shelves that individually pull out for loading / unloading.

So often one would like to quote "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." But we think of the patients first, don't we? :salute::salute:

You know, I should have thought of that , but really, a better label would be "Human Blood Products Only" or some such thing. Something similar to a refrigerator being labeled "store no food or drink in this refrigerator"

:D:D:DWe use a 14 day sample if the patient states they have not been transfused or pregnant within three months. Type and Screen are done that day or the next. Crossmatches are done the day before surgery. From reading this thread, this seems to be the prevailing practice.

We do a screen to rule out any antibodies besides a passive D, but no dilution.

But no matter how clearly we explain, write procedures for the nursing manual etc, we get all sorts of opinions as to what the 4 hours means. I had a situation the other day where the nurse was told by a co-worker, that the spiked unit could be returned, 2 hours into the transfusion, and restarted at a later time. The IV had infiltrated. I told them in no uncertain terms that the four hours was up from the time the unit left the BB, and if they wanted to restart it, it had to stay at the bedside.Return a spiked unit???? ::headdesk:: :eyepoppin:eyepoppin:eyepoppin:eyepoppin

I do exactly as rravkin and have had very good, consistant results.

Thanks Mabel, I use that wisdom in my life outside BB (is there one, oh I guess so. :-)) My job is so stressful that having to stand in a long grocery line or some such is no big deal. "Is someone going to die because I can't get to the post office today? No? Then get on with the important things. :meditate::meditate:

@KBBB - that was my take on it also. The units are not labelled as biohazard, why would the cooler be? :juggle::juggle::juggle::juggle:

Is that per AABB or CAP, or something else? The unique identifer and biohazard sticker I mean.

What do these numbers represent? Testing per week, per month, per day?

We use a Helmer platelet incubator. It rocks the platelets from side to side rather than rotates them. We have been very happy with it.

My experience with plastic tubes is that they can be harder to see through. I can't imagine trying to read AHG reactions through plastic.

The last two posts have very interesting ideas for non seroligic reasons for hemolysis. Do you have a QA RN to do the investigations for you? Sometimes nurses get a little terretorial when lab folks look into this stuff. Do you have a transfusion committee?

One of the comments made by readers of the article brought up the fantastic point that Henry had illegitimate children with many women, including Mary Boleyn, Anne's elder sister. Albiet, this happened when he was younger. I still stick by the theory that an advanced infection with syphilis in his latter years caused the lack of children with his last few wives. As you all know, even with modern medicine, women miscarry every day. Henry and Katherine of Aragon had a very healthy son that died under one year of age, from a "fever". If there were some HDN issues, the baby wouldn't have lasted that long. :blahblah::blahblah:

Thank you Malcolm. *Someone* with some scientific knowledge needs to address the issue. :fingerscr:fingerscr:fingerscr

Malcolm, Sorry to correct a Brit on this, but Mary Queen of Scots was not Henry VIII's daughter, Mary Tudor aka Bloody Mary was. Her mother was Katherine of Aragon. I'd love to know how they have any clue as to what antigens the big man posessed! BTW, is there a link to the article so we can all read it and get a good laugh? :blahblah::blahblah:

I have been talking about this site for months. I refer to it as "Crack for Blood Bankers". Please excuse the drug reference, but this site is addictive, in a good way!

We have been using the pink top tubes for BB ever since we switched to the Echo for the bulk of our testing. We have had no problems at all, in fact, we have fewer problems than we had with red tubes. :blowkiss:

We have had a few instances of this in the past, and get full credit from the American Red Cross for these units. We do not draw our own donors. :):)

We have had the Echo for several years with minimal problems. The staff has gotten pretty good at troubleshooting too, so that helps. Good luck!