Hi,

I am hoping that you can help me. I need to find out the going rate of FFP unit breakage. We think ours is on the high side at around 6-8%. What would you consider an acceptible rate?

Thanks for any information.

We don't use alot of FFP, but we break one every 6 months. I train extensively on proper handling of frozen products, though.

6-8% is probably just above average. My lab allows FFP to sit at ambient temp 5 minutes prior to placing them into the water bath - they believe this cuts back on breakage. Give it a whirl and see if that helps.

Do you store your plasma at -30, -40, or -80C? We found a higher breakage rate when plasma was stored at -80C. Our rate is like Larry's - about 1 every 6 months (but we only transfuse about 40/yr).

We use about 3500/yr, from several different suppliers. Our breakage is about 5%, but one supplier was about 10% (we no longer use that supplier). We store ours at -30C, I agree that the colder storage temps may make them more fragile.

(BTY shasby - love your lizards!)

We have had 35 units break this year and transfused 2879. We store at -30.

Thanks for all those replies! We can look into the temperature as a first option.

Shasby

We have about a 10% breakage rate and store at -40C. Two broke today! Larger bags that are folded over to fit in the box, seem to break more frequently.