Accidents, emergencies and blood: transfusion practice in emergency care
The RCN Emergency Care Association works closely with all key national stakeholder groups and were pleased to promote and support this year’s National Blood Service (NBS) conference ‘Accidents, emergencies and blood’ held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 27 February 2008.
It was the third in a series of national educational events organised by the NBS Transfusion Liaison Nursing team to help promote the safe and appropriate use of blood. It attracted over 200 delegates from a range of professional backgrounds including emergency care nurses, doctors and biomedical scientists from hospitals across the UK.
This year’s event shared important transfusion knowledge and experiences from colleagues working in emergency care. Presentations included lessons learnt from the bombings in London, emergency cell salvage, techniques to preserve circulation and the management of massive haemorrhage using examples from the military. Invited speakers came from a variety of disciplines from both the NBS and hospitals around the country.
A number of key learning points were identified during the day. These included the message that blood is a scarce resource and its administration not without risk. Correct patient identification, communication and documentation are vital to ensure safe and effective use of blood. Emphasis was placed on the importance of having policies and ensuring that staff know and understand them. This is especially important in an environment that often deals with unidentified patients in highly intense and difficult situations. Individuals should not assume that the responsibility for transfusion belongs to someone else but understand that all members of staff have a vital part to play in achieving a safe and effective transfusion for the patient.
Presentations from this event can be found on the NHS Blood and Transplant Hospitals and Science website