Documentation of blood component transportation from the hospital transfusion service to the patient's location
A transfusion medicine physician in Denmark wonders if any transfusion
service requires that the time of arrival of a blood component in
the clinical ward be routinely documented, and if so, what is the mechanism
of documentation. The question came up when they audited in detail the
blood administration process from issue by the blood bank through infusion
of blood components and discovered that instructions were being ignored
at some steps. They found that some components were left unattended by
transportation staff, rather than being handed directly to the responsible
staff member at the ward. When this occurs, there may be undue delay in
initiating a transfusion.
ADDENDA Nov. 3, 2007
- A colleague reports that there is at least one computer-based
solution which might provide the kind of documentation
that the colleague from Denmark is asking about. The
system has been shown to be effective in the UK and includes
optional point of care technologies that document transfusions (and
specimen collections) to ensure the fate of each unit is
captured and reportable.
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