Transporting Freshly Thawed Plasma
The Blood Bank Supervisor of a Trauma Center in a Large Northern State writes that their flight crews would like the option of taking thawed
FFP with them. Currently, they thaw AB plasma to order, and plasma from
the thawer comes out above 10°C. She asks what the options are
for sending freshly thawed FFP with the flight crews while maintaining
regulatory compliance.
The following comments have been submitted in response.
ADDENDA Sept. 30, 2010
- Not having heard back anything specific, the inquiring facility has begun validating a process which uses soft-sided coolers with hard liners. They puts 2 units of freshly thawed (21°C) plasma into the cooler with gel packs, which cools the plasma to 1-10°
within 3 hours. This compares favorably with refrigeration. They are validating the coolers for 8 hours transport time.
- Editor's Note: The earlier discussion, Storage of blood for patients transported on emergency flights may be germane to this topic.
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