Hotline blood warmer tubing

[jessthoreen]

Does anyone use a Hotline blood warmer? I'm wondering if your facility has a policy on how long the tubing can be used before it needs to be discarded. Do you follow the same schedule as regular blood tubing (discarding it after 2 units/four hours), or use it for as long as it is needed, or something else? I'm a new educator for critical care and have not been able to find any consistent information. Contacted the rep who says it can be used for as long as needed, but that seems like an infection issue waiting to happen. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[offlabel]

I'd just throw it away when the transfusion is done or warming isn't needed anymore. They're used in the OR for many multiples of units of blood products and for far longer than 4 hours.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

We use the same tubing for unit after unit.

[jessthoreen]

So what if you use the warmer tubing at 1200, the doc orders a hgb for 1800 and then decides to give another unit. Do you use that same blood warmer tubing that's being hanging on the pump for the last 6 hours? My facility has done that and I just find it weird from an infection control standpoint.

[marienm, RN, CCRN]

We change it every 4-6 hours just like regular blood tubing. (Assuming warmed blood is still required after 4-6 hours.) If we're using the hotline for fluids then the tubing would be changed every 72-96 hours, I guess, though I've never run warmed fluids for 4 days!