Problems with blood bank

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  1. This is a discussion on Problems with blood bank in NICU Nursing / Neonatal, part of Critical Care Nursing ... Is anybody else having this issue in their hospital??? We use irradiated blood when we give...

    by Apr 24, '09
    Is anybody else having this issue in their hospital???

    We use irradiated blood when we give transfusions to our babies (as do other areas of the hospital - like for chemo patients and other stuff...)

    Homeland Security has decided that the equipment (or something) that the blood bank uses to irradiate the blood can be used to make a "dirty bomb"... something like that.

    Therefore - all personal in the blood bank have to pass this rigorous background check. Several people in our blood bank (including the director) have not yet passed. I guess things like a speeding ticket can slow the process down.

    Because of this (at night usually), there might not be somebody available in the blood bank to irradiate the blood for us. If it's a non-emergency, we are being asked to wait until somebody with clearance can get there. If it's an emergency, we are supposed to have to use "normal" O-neg blood (or something like that). But our MD has to OK it first.

    I understand Homeland Security's concern about the irradiation equipment and all of that stuff... but come on!!!

    Anybody else having problems with this in their neck of the woods???
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    by Sweeper933 Apr 24, '09 11:39 pm
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  3. 9 Comments so far...

  4. Apr 25, '09 by
    Okay, I know I'm terrible, and I'm sorry you're having frustrations with this (and I would be BOILING mad if I were you) but I'm giggling like a fiend right now. It's late, I guess.

    Nothing about this yet in NYC. But our blood bank suuuuuuuuhhhhuuuuuucks at all times, so I'm not sure I would notice if they got any worse.
  5. Apr 26, '09 by
    When we all found out about this - we all thought "are you joking..."

    But no.

    And true to form - we found out because one of us had a "nice" conversation with blood bank at 4am about why it was taking so long for her baby's blood to be ready...

    And yes Elizabells - it is funny! (I mean come on... does Homeland Security seriously not have anything else better to do???)
  6. Apr 27, '09 by
    It seems to me they should make sure that someone able to irradiate blood is available at all times. Someone is just going to have to work night shift until everyone has passed.
    Bortaz, RN likes this.
  7. Apr 27, '09 by
    Quote from Sweeper933
    And yes Elizabells - it is funny! (I mean come on... does Homeland Security seriously not have anything else better to do???)
    Better to do? Like think out scenarios where someone could make a dirty bomb? Investigate who has access to nuclear material? Who would have thought 10 years ago that some guys could take a pilot's course, hijack a plan and fly it into the World Trade Center?
    Bortaz, RN likes this.
  8. Apr 27, '09 by
    Quote from dawngloves
    Better to do? Like think out scenarios where someone could make a dirty bomb? Investigate who has access to nuclear material? Who would have thought 10 years ago that some guys could take a pilot's course, hijack a plan and fly it into the World Trade Center?

    I wasn't trying in any shape or form to underestimate things. I know that the materials that they use in the irradiation process could indeed be used to make a dirty bomb. It was just one of those situations where it seemed so absurd at first, that all we could do is laugh about it. Not to mention the fact that even the director of the blood bank was having issues getting past all the red tape. And the information that we were first getting from the blood bank was that there may be times where at night, we simply would have to wait for somebody who had clearance to arrive.
  9. Apr 28, '09 by
    We have the same situation in our facility. I cannot speak for night shift as I am not a night shifter but the Dept of Homeland Security wanted us to change our already brand spanking new building the dirty bomb maker is in and move to a "secure location." IDK where that is. So during the day we have a security guard on duty and can only access lab through him. It can be chalenging when you need blood ASAP.
  10. Apr 28, '09 by
    i would presume there has been some "intelligence" collected....it seems odd that no one thought of this before......
  11. Apr 28, '09 by
    We haven't had a problem here...all of our people must have passed inspection or something!
    chare likes this.
  12. May 6, '12 by
    Quote from dawngloves
    It seems to me they should make sure that someone able to irradiate blood is available at all times. Someone is just going to have to work night shift until everyone has passed.
    You can have the XRay department do it...we do when our equipment is being repaired.