Promoting safe transfusion practice to junior medical officers
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood has developed the free Transfusion Orientation Pack to promote safe transfusion practice and deliver education and training materials to junior medical officers.
This follows a successful pilot in 2016 which was based on focus groups conducted specifically with junior medical officers to find out what resources would be best suited to their needs.
The following tools are included in the pack:
- Blood Component Prescribing Checklist - an overview of the transfusion process for the blood component prescriber.
- Guidance for appropriate prescribing of red cells, platelets, and fresh frozen plasma.
- Acute Transfusion Reactions Poster - guidance for the identification and management of acute transfusion reactions
- Quick reference cards (Acute Transfusion Reactions Card, Blood Compatibility Card, Blood Prescribing Card, Warfarin Reversal Card) - bedside resources to assist with blood component compatibility and prescription, acute transfusion reaction management and warfarin reversal
To complement the packs, two PowerPoint presentations are available to help medical educators deliver safe transfusion lectures during the onsite orientation days and/or during the coming year's junior medical officer education program:
There were over 3500 packs distributed nationally in 2020.