We tried collecting automated RBCs as an off product of our SDP. Once our apheresis staff was comfortable with the new equipment, we trained our whole blood staff to collect 2XRBC and RBC + Plasma at our center. This occurred over a 6 month period. The hardest thing for the whole blood staff was conversion of whole blood donors to an automated process. As staff became more comfortable with the process, conversion became easier. Goals were set for total automated RBC collection and also individual monthly goals. We went from an average of 30 automated RBCs collected monthly to a monthly average of 180 RBCS. 75% were double RBCs; 20% from SDP and the remainer from single RBC and a plasma. We collected over 2000 units. We are now in the process of training more whole blood staff and evaluating how to mobilize the process.
Our 2005 year-to-date QNS discard rate is 1.5%. We have recently expanded our collection region and have hire new staff to cover this region. Over 30% of our staff have less then 1 year on-the -job experience. Hopefully, our staff will stablize and we will see a drop in the our QNS rate.