Jason Wai Mun Chay1, Ji Hyun Kim1, Nur Shahirah B M Taha1, Siew Hong Chiew1, Kwong Weng Chin1, Shu Hong Lim1, Liam Pock Ho2,1.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Timely blood delivery to patients with critical bleeding poses logistic challenges. A modern, high speed hospital pneumatic tube system (PTS) is one solution, but blood units may be subjected to high-speed torque and acceleration/deceleration forces.
OBJECTIVE: To validate a new PTS system for potential use at our 1,400-bed hospital in Singapore.
METHOD: Our validation included red blood cells, platelets, thawed plasma, and cryoprecipitate units transported from the blood bank for a distance of 820 meters (PTS track), at a velocity of 3-6 meters per second. Transit time, temperature, bag integrity, and blood quality were assessed visually and through analytical testing on pre- and post-PTS specimens.
RESULTS: Blood units arrived physically intact in less than 8 minutes. The temperature for each was within the acceptable range. Comparative testing of pre-PTS and post-PTS specimens showed no significant difference in physical quality and analyzed parameters (P> .05).
CONCLUSIONS: High speed PTS transportation of blood components has satisfactory fidelity and speed, without significant impact on quality. As a result, we incorporated PTS blood delivery into the hospital massive-transfusion protocol and successfully operationalized that new system. © American Society for Clinical Pathology 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
BACKGROUND: Timely blood delivery to patients with critical bleeding poses logistic challenges. A modern, high speed hospital pneumatic tube system (PTS) is one solution, but blood units may be subjected to high-speed torque and acceleration/deceleration forces.
OBJECTIVE: To validate a new PTS system for potential use at our 1,400-bed hospital in Singapore.
METHOD: Our validation included red blood cells, platelets, thawed plasma, and cryoprecipitate units transported from the blood bank for a distance of 820 meters (PTS track), at a velocity of 3-6 meters per second. Transit time, temperature, bag integrity, and blood quality were assessed visually and through analytical testing on pre- and post-PTS specimens.
RESULTS: Blood units arrived physically intact in less than 8 minutes. The temperature for each was within the acceptable range. Comparative testing of pre-PTS and post-PTS specimens showed no significant difference in physical quality and analyzed parameters (P> .05).
CONCLUSIONS: High speed PTS transportation of blood components has satisfactory fidelity and speed, without significant impact on quality. As a result, we incorporated PTS blood delivery into the hospital massive-transfusion protocol and successfully operationalized that new system. © American Society for Clinical Pathology 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Year: 2019
PMID： 31051501 DOI： 10.1093/labmed/lmz012
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Lab Med ISSN： 0007-5027