The transfusion service must have procedures and policies that address additional extended testing that must be performed.
When the investigation is suggestive of serious adverse events such as TRALI, TACO, and anaphylaxis, the patient’s physician must be notified immediately. If the suspected adverse event is related to characteristics of the donor as in TRALI, the blood center must also be notified immediately and in writing. In the U.S., transfusion-associated fatalities must be reported to the FDA and to other agencies and institutions as stipulated by institutional guidelines and local and state regulations.
Adequate training is essential to ensure optimum performance. The transfusion service is responsible to insure that patient care staff members are well trained to carry out transfusion reaction recognition and reporting and that the procedures and policies are up-to-date, accurate, and clearly understood.
