ABSTRACT
T he adm in istra tion o f b lood products requires proper com pliance w ith a w rit ten procedure, the im p o rtan t elem ents o f w hich are ou tlined in Table 8.1.
First is p roper recip ient identification an d ensuring the com patib ility o f the p roduct. For red cell transfusions, b o th ABO an d Rhesus com patib ility should be ascertained. If there are any questions at this p o in t they should be im m ediately addressed to the b lood b ank for clarification. U nder certain circum stances, n o n identical ABO b lood will be adm in istered to patients, for exam ple, b lood group O red cells to n o n -O recipients or b lood group A red cells to AB recipients. In ad d i tion , Rhesus negative p roducts m ay be safely transfused to Rhesus positive p a tients, and on occasion, w hen Rhesus negative shortages exists, Rhesus positive un its m ay know ingly be transfused to certain g roups o f Rhesus negative patients. W hen b lood is dispensed from a b lood bank, a record is attached to the bag. This record contains in fo rm ation identifying the blood in the con tainer (ABO, Rh and u n it #) and in fo rm ation identifying the in tended recip ient (nam e, m edical record #, o th er identifiers). T his record, therefore, links the suitability o f the b lood in the con tainer w ith the recipient. C onfirm ing the correctness o f this in fo rm ation at the bedside m ay be the last o p p o rtu n ity to avert a severe hem olytic reaction.
