There are several posts about what coolers everyone is using. But I am curious to know, what type of situations warrant the use of coolers at your facility? (I have had a couple requests over the years that just didn't warrant the intent.)

 

• unstabe patient and they wanted blood at the bedside
• satelite fridge out of order
• MTP
• store blood at bedside for red cell or plasma exchange transfusion
• send blood with unstable patient to another hospital
• ship blood to another hospital

What type of situations were you asked to provide a cooler of blood?

We use coolers for transport between sister hospital to hospital. We also use coolers for our OR.

Coolers for ER, OR and to transport to our off-site location that does transfusions.  Sometimes to the bedside for a MTP in the unit.

 

Scott

We only issue coolers to the OR for our heart patients.  They are allowed to take them with the patient when they are transferred to the ICU.

We send them to the OR and off campus transfusion sites (kidney centers). Not that there aren't other uses, but when you can send it where it's needed in a few seconds in a pneumatic tube, routine use for routine transfusions doesn't make sense. Temperature maintenance and records thereof, cost of indicators, loss of control by the blood bank etc. point towards leaving them in your fridge as much and as long as possible.

ECMO 

MTP

Pediatric heart surgery

Ours is still in the validation process, but we plan to use it only for MTPs.

ED, heart surgeries, dialysis.

We use coolers for ED, OR, & Dialysis.  But the procedure says it can go to other areas (such as ICU) at the BB techs discretion.  If it is still out at 4 hours (which never really happens) we need to check temp and re-ice if needed.