Good afternoon everyone, 

 

I have a question. We just had our unannounced JCAHO inspection today in the blood bank. 

The surveyor asked us why we use clear plastic ziplog bag when issuing blood products when blood products are considered biohazard. Why not use the biohazard bag.

 

What kind of plastic bag does everyone use in the blood bank when issuing blood products to floor?

 

Help~ Thank you!

Under OSHA, tested donor blood is not considered biohazardous.  For heaven's sake, we infuse it into patients!  It would take me some time to find the regulation, but it is in the OSHA regs.

I have heard that it is unseemly to walk through the halls of the hospital carrying a biohazard bag for all to see.   We actually transported all of our blood via pneumatic tube system so this wasn't an issue for us.

 

Thank you so much everyone. 

The current hospital is not equipped to issue blood through pneumatic tubes.. very old building... can't support it. I miss those days i can tube up the blood products. 

 

We use ziploc bags with biohazard written across the bag.

we just issue in either a validated refrigerated cooler or a validated RT cooler.

(for platelets/cryo/gran - just a little igloo lunch cooler.)

when we don't have enough coolers for platelets - we just use a regular ziploc bag.

 

it was my understanding - as stated above - that OSHA requires a "carrying container" to transport blood products...... don't have the exact reg either - but, we don't use biohazard bags.....

OMG - we evidently have a new generation of inspectors.  As Mabel said - OSHA regs.  The real pain is having to respond with a corrective action of teaching them.

 

We use a biohazard bag.  It hasn't ever crossed my mind what kind of bag we use! I just order the size I need.   haha

We use un-validated lunch coolers just so that visitors/patients don't see someone walking through the halls with a bag of blood. OSHA reg is 1910.1030(g)(1)(i)(F) blood components issued for transfusion do not require a biohazard label.

We use plastic bags that are opaque-due to HIPPA, cannot have intended recipient's information visible while transporting the components.

We use clear plastic bags to transport blood products. Blood products are not considered biohazardous. 

We use a brown paper bag.  It is done to keep the blood out of sight from any squeamish onlookers while it is being walked to the floor.  We only use coolers if the blood product is not going to be immediately transfused.

1910.1030(g)(1)(i)(F)

Containers of blood, blood components, or blood products that are labeled as to their contents and have been released for transfusion or other clinical use are exempted from the labeling requirements of paragraph (g).

1910.1030(g)(1)(i)(G)

Individual containers of blood or other potentially infectious materials that are placed in a labeled container during storage, transport, shipment or disposal are exempted from the labeling requirement.

I remember hearing of a hospital that used clear bags, and some visitor fainted at the sight of blood and had a head injury.  No regulations on that but squeamish people and the mess a broken unit makes are worth thinking about as well as HIPAA.

We also use opaque/colored bags, but they do not have the biohazard symbol on them.  Our QA team also confirmed that was not needed for blood products - thanks for the reference applejw!

When we dropped the 30 minute return and went to taking temps on returned units, we started issuing units in padded mailing envelopes that we kept in the refrigerator. We were able to lengthen the return time 5 to 7 minutes with those.   We asked that they return the padded envelopes so we didn’t have to buy a lot, and they were good about returning them.