Guidelines for the Organization of a Blood Transfusion Service

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the principles and procedures involved in establishing or re-organizing a national blood transfusion service in developing countries.

Focused on organizational principles rather than technical details, the book responds to both the growing clinical needs for safe and effective blood products and the many problems inherent in the organization of a transfusion service.

Guidelines and advice draw upon several clear examples of successes and failures taken from international experiences in this difficult process. The objective of the book is to provide information to decision-makers and planners on how to develop a correctly organized scheme of management, select equipment, establish standard procedures and train staff so as to provide an adequate supply of blood and blood products which are as safe to use as possible and accessible at a reasonable cost.

To this end, cost-saving options are presented together with clear indications of areas where expense is inevitable and no short-cuts are possible. Subjects discussed include: planning a donor recruitment programme; procedures for blood collection; donor and recipient safety; screening for hepatitis, AIDS, syphilis and yaws, malaria, Chagas disease, cytomegalovirus and other transmissible diseases; production of laboratory reagents; selection of methods for blood grouping and compatability testing; aquisition of equipment and consumables; guidelines for biosafety and quality assurance; and clinical indications for the use of whole blood, red cells, plasma, platelets, cryoprcipitate, factor VIII concentrate, factor IX complex, albumin and immunoglobulins.