ISBT requirements to assign a unique number to a pool of blood components

A colleague wonders about any ISBT requirements to assign a unique number to a pool of blood components. For example, is there a requirement to label a pool of 5-6 single donor cryoprecipitate components? Does any regulation mandate the use of an ISBT number to designate a pooled product? According to the inquiring colleague, at least one computer system currently assigns an automatically generated pool number when 5-6 single cryo units are physically pooled.

Editors' NOTE: The ISBT website makes a comment about pooling blood components. Reproducing here: "9. (Question): If I pool products that are collected from another facility, whose facility identification number is supposed to appear on the ISBT 128 label and where? Answer: Pooled products should be assigned a unique identification number by the modifying facility. This number will include the facility identification number of the pooling facility and be placed at the top of the upper left quadrant of a 4"x 4" label. Beneath this number should appear the name and location of the pooling facility. Records of the units used in the pool should be maintained by the pooling facility."

The following comments have been received.

ADDENDA Jan. 23, 2009

1. A blood banker from Ohio writes:
   
   ISBT products can be pooled at facilities other than where collected. An example may be seen at http://freeisbt.googlepages.com under "Pooled Platelets with further processing".
   
   Some systems will create sequential pool numbers, such as P1234, followed by P1235. These numbers will not be ISBT compliant, but they must be printed as a barcode to meet FDA requirements. If these pooled platelets are not shipped, it is not mandatory to be ISBT compliant, and so the unit can be labeled with that number. I have tested one system (Sunquest) which generates pool numbers. The system allows you to scan the ISBT format product codes, etc, but will still allow barcode scanning of the pool number printed with Code 39 or Code 128.
   
   One workaround I have seen is to "ship the unit out" to your own facility. Then receive it back in with the ISBT pool number. For example, if the transfusing hospital had a facility number "W1234" and creates a pool number "P2501" and the creation date is 2/1/09, the unit could be brought back in as pool number W123409002501 (the 6th and 7th digit being the year and the last 4 digits being the pool sequence number).

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