Who has ownership of the blood refrigerator in the OR?

and who takes back the unused blood to the Blood Bank at the end of the day?

Moreover, what are the steps from handover at the OR to patient transfusion and refrigerator storage in between?

Thank you

The blood bank is ultimately responsible for it - the OR may say they will maintain it and do temp/alarm checks, etc. If you are AABB you will have to enforce all aspects of tranfusion medicine, including storage envrionments. As for the rest of your question - that is a process you will have to work out at your institution. Another thing to consider is how you will validate that blood is not removed from the ref, stored in the OR during the case and then returned to the ref afterwards. GOOD LUCK with that. There are temp indicators (HemoTemp/Williams makes one too) available. Monitoring OR transfusions is a good quality indicator - usually documented in the anesthesia record.

Thank you David for your prompt reply.

Is it best to change my Stone Age ways and go for igloos?

Thanks

We have been using coolers since 2003. The OR calls for the blood when the procedure is starting and returns the cooler at the end of the procedure. We issue the blood in the computer at that time. A tag is attached stating the patient's name/MR# and time the cooler must be returned to the BB. If the procedure runs longer, we will move the blood to another cooler with fresh cold packs.

We use Hemo-Temp temperature monitors on each unit. I feel we have more control this way. Sometimes a doctor won't ask for the blood at all.

:boogie::highfive::boogie:

KKidd who takes the cooler to and from the OR and who moves them to a fressh cooler if necessary/

thank you

We take the cooler to the OR when it is ready and keep track of the time it has been out to determine if a fresh cooler is necessary. Sometimes OR staff brings the cooler back and sometimes we go to recorvery to get it. We are a 100+ bed hospital and it works for us. Good luck

Karen

We've been sending blood to our OR for about a year. We tried a couple "mini" medical refrigerators, but ended up going with a true blood bank model. The blood is issued via pneumatic tube with temp indicators from Williams Labs. I think they're easier to read than the Hemotemps. If blood is not used it is returned to the BB. If the temp dots indicate it did not exceed max temp then it is placed back in the BB refrigerator. This system works fairly well. I did all the validation studies to begin, but our BIOMEDICAL department assures me they will do alarm checks and the like at regular intervals.

Don

We started using individual coolers several years ago kept in the room which surgery returns after the case. We had one of the docs in OR who grabbed a unit out of the refrig and gave it to the wrong patient and they now use the refrigerator for tissue transplant. CV post surgery has a refrig that the blood goes to after the case and one of the personnel brings the leftover blood down the next day.

I have worked in places with coolers and now in a place with an OR refrigerator. The refrigerator is only for cardiac ORs and we can only do one at a time so patient risk is low. The rest have to come and get blood when they need it. The OR takes the daily temps and changes the charts but we do the other maintenance. We review their circular charts when they remember to bring them to us. As soon as I can get to know the OR staff better, we will have more oversight. It doesn't help me to review charts 6 months later. The OR staff is responsible for running the blood to and fro but we also put temp indicators on the units, just in case.

I miss the coolers. We still have emergent cases that need a lot of products in a hurry and we aren't quite set up for that. Ocasionally the blood comes back later and has to be discarded. I hate wasting blood.

(and now I have oversight over the tissue refrigerator and the incoming tissue freezer. After reviewing the OR procedures I can see why the labs are taking the processes over)

Edited June 15, 201114 yr by clmergen
grammar

Thank you, this is very helpful as I meeting with the authorities soon, and I want to make the right decision.