Equipment

Blood infusion sets include a 170-200 micron filter and mst be used for administration of all blood components - Red bood cells, Plasma, Platelets, Cryoprecipitate and Granulocytes. The filter wll remove any aggregated material and fibrin clots.
infusion sets / blood filters should be changed according to local policy.
All blood components in New Zealand are leucodepleted at source by NZBS. The use of bedside leucodepletion filters is not necessary.
For manufactured blood products (presented in bottles), syringes or a standard IV infusion set may be used. Note that glass bottles also need to be vented (see manufacturer's instructions for details).

If warming is needed, a specifically designed, commercial, approved, monitored system must be used. Blood and components must not be warmed above 41ºC.
A blood warmer is indicated for:
- Large volume rapid transfusions of >50 mL/kg/hour in adults or >15 mL/kg/hour in children
- Exchange transfusions
- Patients with clinically significant cold agglutinins
Never improvise by placing a blood pack into hot water or a microwave.

Pumps should be used to deliver blood products when:
Controlled flow rates are required for specific patients, e.g. paediatric patients, or those at risk of fluid overload.
Infusion of blood products via gravity is unreliable e.g. via PICC or small gauge cannula.
Caution! Haemolysis of blood cells may occur with some models.
Check the pump is approved for transfusing blood components
Check the manufacturers instructions before use with Red Cells and Platelet.
Never use pumps with granulocyte/buffy coat infusions
Blood infusion set
![Blood infusion set](./images/bloodset.png width="100"/)
Standard IV set
![Standard IV set](./images/standardivset.jpg width="100")

![IV pump](./images/ivdriver.jpg width="250")