17 April 2023 (Monday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise

After last week’s debacle I had a word with the boss who agreed with me that the BTLP-TACT simulator is far from perfect… but it is the only simulator we’ve got.

So I had another go…

 

I had two cases:

 

41003 – a sixty-three year-old woman requiring group & save for a hernia repair.

 

She grouped as O Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.

 

02386 – a forty-six year-old chap in A&E requiring six units of blood within the hour following a stabbing.

 

His ABO blood group was indeterminate; cells grouping as A; plasma as AB. But the Rh group was negative. I called him indeterminate Rh(D) Negative.

The antibody screen was negative.

I issued six units of O Rh(D) Negative blood.

 

I got it right… for which I was grateful…

14 April 2023 (Friday) - Transfusion News Update

 

The Transfusion News update came in today…

 

When I was a lad, platelets came in “pools” made from the platelets obtained from whole blood of several donors. Apheresis was a special thing for named patients only… When I was a lad.

Until recently apheresis has been the only game in town. But as it seems there is a shortage of apheresis donors, pools of platelets are coming back again.

 

One thing is sure in blood transfusion practice… Whatever you are doing today will be sneered at in ten years’ time,  and will again be standard practice in twenty years’ time.

Whole Blood Derived Platelet vs. Apheresis Platelets

April 12, 2023 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. experienced significant blood product shortages. In 2019, approximately 2.5 million platelet units were collected in the U.S., and over 90% were collected by apheresis. Platelets may also be derived from whole blood, but these must be pooled with three to nine other whole blood derived (WBD) platelet units to make a sufficient “dose.” [Read more]

Seven-Day Platelet Storage and Platelet Count Increments

April 4, 2023 Platelets must be stored at room temperature to preserve function, which makes them susceptible to bacterial contamination. Recently, several countries including the United States and Canada have extended platelet storage time from five days to seven days with bacterial testing. [Read more]

 

13 April 2023 (Thursday) - UKAS Newsletter

 

I have signed up to get the UKAS newsletter. I read the thing in much the same way that I might read a detective novel; little hints and tips are thrown occasionally, but the big picture I never revealed.

I find the same in the workplace; I am so often told that stuff which (to me) seems odd (to say the least) is being done because it is an ISO requirement. And every time I hear this I have no option but to take it on faith. Because as todays newsletter told me, if I want a copy of the ISO standards it will cost me a hundred and fifty quid (if I’m a member of BSI – whatever that is).