Global ClinicGuides
← All screen guides
WorkspaceAvailable

Blood bank

What the bank holds, who each unit is for, what the laboratory found, and what was given.

Open this screen View the get comfortable in your workspace walkthrough
01

What you can do here

A unit cannot be given to a patient it was not found compatible for

Hanging a bag is refused unless there is a crossmatch for that exact unit and that exact patient saying compatible. The check happens when you press the button, so a result recorded as incompatible a moment ago still stops you.

A crossmatch that is not back is not a pass

Blood is not given on the assumption that a test will come back clear, so a pending result refuses the transfusion exactly as an incompatible one does.

This does not decide compatibility

It records what the laboratory found. Nothing reads a result off a pair of blood groups, because a crossmatch finds antibodies a group does not predict, and a system that guessed would be wrong in the cases that matter.

One unit number, one unit

Booking the same number in twice is refused, because a duplicate is two records of one bag and neither is right about where it is.

A unit issued for somebody else cannot be hung

The patient it was issued for is checked against the patient in front of you, at the moment you press the button.

Expiry is checked when the bag is hung

A unit is usable through its expiry date, not up to it, and a unit past it is refused.

02

Follow these steps

Book a unit in

  1. Select Book a unit in and enter the number exactly as it reads on the bag.
  2. Choose the component and the group on the bag, and enter the expiry date.

Crossmatch and reserve

  1. Open the unit and find the patient the sample came from by name, mobile or record number, reading it off the sample itself. It is never filled in from the unit, and the screen says so when it is not the patient the unit is held for.
  2. Choose what the laboratory found. Nothing is filled in for you, and a compatible result needs the sample reference it came in under.
  3. Reserve the unit for that patient, then issue it to the ward or theatre.

Give it

  1. Open the issued unit and find the patient in front of you by their wristband number or name. It is compared with the patient the unit was issued for.
  2. Select Hang it. A refusal says which of the checks failed, beside the button.
  3. Record that it finished, or that it was stopped and why, and report a reaction if there is one.
03

Helpful habits

  • Record the sample reference with every crossmatch. That is what ties the result to the tube the laboratory tested.
  • Reserve before issuing. A unit leaves the bank for a named patient, never on spec.
  • Report a reaction as soon as it is seen, with what was observed in your own words. Choose how severe it was; a report sent twice is filed once, and one that fails keeps what you typed.
  • Expiry is judged on the workspace's calendar day, as the laboratory's own check is.
04

Tips

  • A unit that is given, returned or discarded leaves the stock list. It is not stock any more.
  • Returning a unit to the shelf releases the patient it was held for.
  • Quarantine is reversible and discard is not, so a discard asks why.
Next