Blood bank ; Data collection ; Transfusion ; Quality control
Abstract
Background: Inspection for status of blood banks (BB) has been applied for larger hospitals, but never done for smaller ones on a nationwide scale in Korea. Here, we analyzed the status of the BBs for transfusion services and equipments, especially for smaller hospitals. Methods: The subjects were all hospitals provided more than one unit of blood by Korean Red Cross (KRC) in 2006. We divided the hospitals to a big-hospital and a small-hospital group, who got over or under 5,000 units of blood from Korean Red Cross in 2006. The questionnaires were delivered by mail. Result: The number of total hospitals was 2,488 and Small-H was 2,381 accounting for 95.7% of total. The response rate was 23.1%. Among Small-H, 35% had no working manual, 61% was not involved in certification programs, 17% had no refrigerators exclusively used for blood. Furthermore, 31% performed only cell typing as ABO typing, 69% didn't test antibody detection, and 7% used a slide method for crossmatching tests. And, 6% used blood information sharing system and 28.4% hospitals shipped blood by blood transport containers. Discarded amount of blood was 16.8 units and the main component was RBC. Conclusion: The level of management and services showed a great difference between two groups. The Small-H is thought to need more support and attention from government. This study would be an essential data for understanding the current state and establishing government policy for safe transfusion.