Thread by @TransfusionWM

First up @shshsid on the journey of blood. Did you know the National Blood Service was established before the NHS? #BSHTIP

<3% people aged 17-70 donate blood and 96% of them are Caucasian. Thankfully more than 3% of our delegates are donors!

Double red cells can be donated for rarer blood groups by apheresis- but donors must be >70kg, have hb >140g/L and only donate 2x/year (vs 50kg, 125g/L (women)/135g/L (men) and every 16/12 weeks) #BSHTIP

Current hb estimation for donors is by CuSO4 but soon @NHSBT will start doing capillary HemoCue for 'at risk' donors (women of child bearing age) #BSHTIP

CuSO4 has low sensitivity and specificity. Remember every bag of blood you prescribe does not have the same amount of hb in it! #BSHTIP

'Manufacture' of blood starts with leucocyte reduction. It is then centrifuged and separated. High volume, (relatively) low tech! Blood centre tours at Filton and Manchester are available
hospital.blood.co.uk/media/29262/bl…
#BSHTIP

Units given to children have additional tests performed. JPAC outline the legal requirements here
transfusionguidelines.org/red-book/chapt…
#BSHTIP

Hepatitis E was on all our minds for a long time in 2015/16. Now all blood components collected by NHSBT are HEV tested and negative #BSHTIP

Discretionary testing helps retain donors and decrease donor deferrals. Travel to certain countries may prompt testing for West Nile virus, malaria, T. Cruzi etc. #BSHTIP

Donors with sickle trait or thalassaemia trait CAN be blood donors as long as hb is high enough. Donated blood will not be used for patients with sickle cell disease though (they have enough HbS already!!) #BSHTIP

Platelets are now routinely sampled for bacterial contamination. Highest risk of bacterial transmission as they are stored at room temp (not in the fridge) #BSHTIP

@shshsid showing how pooled platelets are made #BSHTIP

People born in the UK after 1/1/96 have not been exposed to vCJD in the foodchain and should get imported plasma products - solvent detergent (Octaplas) or methylene blue treated FFP #BSHTIP

Irradiation destroys residual lymphocytes which can cause graft vs host disease in the severely immunocompromised. Full list of who needs irrradiated components is here
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.…
#BSHTIP

Evidence based medicine in donor medicine too. Are the #haemSpRs aware of the INTERVAL study? thelancet.com/journals/lance…
#BSHTIP