Before you transfuse

Before a transfusion:

  • Is a pre medication required?
  • Do you have sufficient resources to manage the transfusion?
  • Overnight transfusions in particular are discouraged unless clinically urgent or in a high-resource area eg theatre, ICU, APU. Errors are more likely at night, monitoring is more difficult and the patient becomes sleep-deprived.
  • Are there any other special requirements? (eg CMV negative or irradiated)
  • Has consent been obtained? (more info on consent)
  • Has suitable venous access been obtained?
  • Has the component been checked against the patient?
  • The patient has stated his/her name him/herself
  • The patient's wristband has been checked against the unit's label
  • Identification details on the blood component and label match the identity of the patient
  • The unit's blood group is compatibility with the patient's blood group (on the compatibility label) (see component's details for compatibility)
  • A second person has independently confirmed this check at the bedside
  • For more detail, see Bedside Checking.

![mg src="images/nurse.jpg" height="198" width="209" ](mg src="images/nurse.jpg" height="198" width="209" )

Compatible Intravenous Solutions

  • Use only 0.9% Saline.
  • DO NOT use 5% Dextrose solutions (may induce haemolysis)
  • DO NOT use Lactated Ringer's or other balanced salt solutions that contain Calcium, as this may induce clot formation in the blood bag and / or administration set.
  • Never add medications to blood components and products.
  • Never piggyback a blood transfusion onto another line containing medication.

More Info