Sent on behalf of Abdulwahab, Widad (Transfusion Medicine and Tissue Bank) on Jan 17th, 2024
...discarded RBCs and Frozen Plasma (FP) in the ORs due to improper storage and the return of blood units > 60min from issue time from blood bank.
Apparently, staff continue to mix up of RBCS and FPs issued inside the cooler versus products issued outside of cooler. When products that should be outside of a cooler is returned inside a cooler, the entire product inside the cooler gets discarded because of interference products’ temperature.
In order to mitigate the risk of further blood wastage, please share this information with staff and reinforce the need to always return blood units the way it was originally issued. Furthermore, if staff anticipates delay in transfusion, remind them to return the unit back to blood bank prior to 60 min of issue time.
Key Points to share with the clinical team:
If the plasma was issued inside a “Blue or Red” Igloo cooler, it MUST be returned inside the same cooler with same FPs or RBCs that were packaged.
If the RBC or plasma was issued OUTSIDE of cooler at room temperature (e.g. warm FPs), then they MUST be returned back at ROOM TEMP outside of cooler.
If unsure, DO NOT mix the products and return products outside of cooler to blood bank prior to end of 60 minutes if unused.
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