Authors (including presenting author) :
Kaur I(1), Wong SF(1), Wong WM(1), Tsui KL(1), Ong KL(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Accident and Emergency Department, Pok Oi Hospital
Introduction :
In the Accident and Emergency setting, blood transfusion is a life-saving procedure for certain resuscitation cases, which makes the administration of blood products inevitable. Once the blood bank has issued the blood products, it is crucial to administer the blood products as soon as possible and return any unused blood products to blood bank within 30 minutes of issuance. If the target time is not met, the unused blood products are no longer suitable to be administered for other patients.
Objectives :
1. To ensure there is rapid supply of blood products to patients in demand and enhance prompt administration
2. To ensure the blood products processing time is kept within 30 minutes of receiving blood products from blood bank to either administration of blood transfusion to patients or returning unused blood products back to blood bank
3. To reinforce staff training on blood transfusion in the A&E setting
Methodology :
A timer is added to the blood products container specifically used to transport blood products from blood bank to the A&E department in POH. Once the nurse reaches blood bank and the blood products are received, he/she should place them into the container, subsequently start the preset timer which is set to 5 minutes and return to A&E as promptly as possible. When the time is up and the alarm is heard, nurses should confirm with the doctor in charge on whether to administer the blood products or return the unused blood products to blood bank immediately.
Result & Outcome :
This CQI program is designed to ensure unused blood products can be returned to blood bank within 30 minutes upon issuance from blood bank.