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Blood Bands
The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) established the goal of improved accuracy of patient identification to include, “[Using] at least two patient identifiers (neither to be the patient's room number) whenever administering medications or blood products; taking blood samples and other specimens for clinical testing, or providing any other treatments or procedures."
The importance of adhering to this goal is highlighted by a recent report from JCAHO showing blood transfusion errors ranked in the top 10 most frequently reported sentinel events. |
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Simply looking at two identifiers, while important, does not meet the stringent requirements for blood transfusions. Handwritten – and even computer-generated – patient information on a band or label is subject to transcription errors. The only reliable, positive link between a patient and the patient’s clot tube sample is either a unique number that is pre-printed on a set of labels or a label printed directly from a patient’s blood band ID.
Blood bands are specifically designed to protect against the potentially fatal errors associated and hemolytic transfusion reactions caused by transfusing incompatible blood due to clot tube misidentification. They provide a unique identification number to ensure that blood samples are correctly identified and transfusions are administered to the right patient.
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St. John offers a variety of blood band products -- but only one lets you create labels on demand directly from the patients ID band. Click here to learn more about this innovative, safer solution to blood ID.
| IDENTI-MATCH Blood Band |
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Unique ability to generate labels on demand,
directly from the patient’s ID band
Traditional bands are pre-printed with a pre-defined number of labels to be peeled from the patient's wristband. With St. John’s IDENTI-MATCH band, labels are printed as needed directly from the patient's ID band. There is no limit to the number of labels that can be generated at bedside. That means you will not run out of labels, no matter how much blood is needed. |
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There are no transcription errors that can happen when blood bands run out of labels. Other systems require re-sticking and re-banding patients. Because IDENTI-MATCH blood band creates “on-demand” labels, label surpluses are also eliminated, so ‘floating’ pre-printed labels won't be mistakenly used for another patient. If you want, patients can keep the same blood bank number throughout their entire stay, rather than being assigned a new one every 72 hours. Keeping the same number cuts down on the potential for confusion and significantly reduces your costs. |
Increase patient safety with a complete audit trail From draw through transfusion, using labels printed on demand from the patient’s blood band ensures correct patient identification.
IDENTI-MATCH saves you money
At half the cost of other traditional blood bands, IDENTI-MATCH saves you money. You never pay for labels you don't use, and you eliminate dangerous and wasteful extra blood ID labels. |
Have a specific question or need? Contact a Patient Identification Specialist. |
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