Can you give blood and antibiotics both at the same time through a triple lumen cath?

You are quite correct that a CVC is OK to delivery blood and that most lumens are wide. However they are also a whole lot longer than a peripheral IV and if you want to give the blood quickly then it will be slowed down (Poiselles law )allnurses.com/forums/f16/radius-4th-power-76225.html
so thats why I said it depends on the context. for critically ill patients with multiple IV and lots of meds a peripheral cannula is often better logisitically as you can run the blood without worrying about getting other meds in. OR if they need the blood quickly then you can get it in quicker.

I have never considered the fact that Central lines are 'longer' a bad thing when it comes to blood administration. My thoughts are, in a critical care setting, the central line will be the BEST route of any IV medication. Most critical patients that I've had, have little or no veins to speak of and putting in a peripheral line just to administer blood has never crossed my mind.

The only issue with administering blood and abx at the same time would be a reaction,,, and the problem of solving WHICH drug (or blood) is causing the reaction. So, if you know this patient has had the abx before and has not had a reaction, then go for it. LIke a previous poster said, the abx (expecially the first dose) needs to be given asap to start treatment on the infection process thats going on.

However, the blood needs to be given asap too. Both of them need to be given, but you have to use your nursing judgement to tell yourself which one should start first. YOu can't start them both at the same time, if it is the first dose of a new abx.

SO,,, if there's no policy on it,, I would wait around 30 minutes after the blood started transfusing, because that's when you're going to get a reaction to blood, IF you're going to get it.

This is more of a theoretical problem than a practical one outside of trauma.
You can use rapid volume infusers with upwards of 250 mL / min on normal central lines, which is more than enough flow. If you need more than that you aren't worrying about antibiotics anyways.

sorry to say it is more than theoretical it is practical. In the context of an extremely ill patient with multiple infusions and meds there are always times when a triple lumen and or even a quad lumen central line are simply NOT enough.
While I would agree that in a trauma patient AB are not usually an issue however there may be patients who do require lots of blood and AB or other meds.
But I think we are debating semantics here. We have agreed you can give blood and AB via a central line so longs as they are in separate lumens. The patient should have the appropriate IV access for their particular circumstances

Yes

Yep, as long as they're on different lumens. Do it every dern day.