Blood Transfusions

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If an order is written to run 1 unit of PRBCs over 2 hours what would you set the volume to be? I know it starts off as 500 mLs but then after it's processed it becomes less. So how many mLs does it become in order to put in the appropriate volume on the pump?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Our blood bank labels have the actual volume on them. The print is kinda small, but it's there. Not knowing where you work, I have no way of knowing if yours are the same. You could weigh the unit and subtract 50 gm for the weight of the bag when empty to give you an estimate if the label doesn't include the volume and then divide the result by 2 to get your rate. You'll find that method to be accurate enough, plus or minus a few minutes.

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Thank you so much! That was very helpful!

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Specializes in Pedi.

Any time I've transfused blood for a child, the order has been written in mL/kg, not units. And when the bag is dispensed from the blood bank, it tells you the volume. A "unit" of blood for a baby is not the same as for a teenager who is the size of an adult.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.

In the two pediatric hospitals that I've worked, the actual volume is listed once the blood comes up from blood bank and then I set my rate based off of the volume.

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