We store our thawed plasma in fridge for 5 days. To thaw, we use a Helmer waterbath set at 36.5 C.  up to 30 minutes, then check  for complete thaw.  The time of course varies according to the volume of the units and how many are being thawed.  Is there any information as to how long plasma can be kept at 37 C, or at room temp after thawing, before being placed into refrigeration?   ie.  if the plasma lifted out of the waterbath and it wasnt refrigerated right away... or say the timer was (inadvertently) set for over 30 minutes...... are these units acceptable?.

This is a question I asked a short while ago and noone actually had an answer for me...

It depends the reason for transfusion if it's to restore coagulation factors my answer will NO because of compromised coagulation factor activity,namely factor V and VIII.

There's no regulation for this.  We also have a Helmer; perhaps 30 mins is too long.  The goal is just to thaw the unit and still have it cold.  If it's coming out of the thawer at 37 degrees, it's probably in too long.

I've wondered about this myself, especially when we are thawing for a massive protocol and have 20 other things to do at the same time.  I would agree that 30 minutes is too long.  We usually do about 16.

We use a 2-bag Helmer that is set at 36.5C.  Our timer is set for 18 minutes.  All our units are flat-frozen (200-300mL). If there is an urgent need, I check after 10 minutes and crush large chunks by hand.  We temp every thawed unit and the average temp of a non-urgent unit is 15-20C.  Urgent units are less than 15C and even less than 10C.

Problem is when we thaw plasma for apheresis.  The waterbath can be loaded with 8 plasma's over 300cc and they dont completely thaw under 30 mins.  Techs are wanting to just set the timer to 45 mins. because they dont have time to keep checking them. I'm okay with this if they are still cold after 45 mins. but what if  a couple smaller volume units are mixed in that will thaw sooner?  Is this extra time acceptable for those units?

If you get the Sahara III it does a printout every minute and tells you (beeps) when there is no ice left.

Problem is when we thaw plasma for apheresis.  The waterbath can be loaded with 8 plasma's over 300cc and they dont completely thaw under 30 mins.  Techs are wanting to just set the timer to 45 mins. because they dont have time to keep checking them. I'm okay with this if they are still cold after 45 mins. but what if  a couple smaller volume units are mixed in that will thaw sooner?  Is this extra time acceptable for those units?

Yes, I think it's still fine.  The only reason then that it takes so long is you have many large units thawing at once.  You could take temps of the smaller volume units just to spot check.