Resource Sharing: A Case Study

On Jan. 30 at approximately 9 a.m., Bonfils Blood Center received a call from one of our more than 200 hospital partners. This particular hospital’s well-established on-site blood donor program is typically able to meet the needs of its patients, but when the emergency room received a patient involved in a serious motorcycle accident, the hospital urgently requested supplemental blood products from Bonfils.

As emergency room personnel began treating injuries including multiple leg and pelvic fractures, a lacerated liver and a badly damaged kidney, the hospital blood bank staff performed ABO typing and cross matching. Once the patient ABO was identified as AB, large quantities of various blood products including fresh frozen plasma (FFP) were transfused to stabilize this patient. The supply of type AB FFP can quickly become depleted since it is the “universal” plasma and since only about four percent of the U.S. population are of this ABO type. Additionally, because Type AB individuals can only receive Type AB FFP and the patient’s doctors anticipated the need for many more units, the hospital realized that their supply of this component was quickly approaching critically low levels and called Bonfils for assistance.

Bonfils’ ongoing donor recruitment and collection efforts to maintain an ample supply of Type AB FFP for our entire community resulted in our ability to provide 50 units to the hospital the same day. A few days later we were relieved to learn that, although this patient was still in serious condition,  a good chance of survival was expected. In addition, this hospital’s blood donor program began replenishing its blood supply through on-site collections.

Bonfils Blood Center is among a number of blood donor programs in the state of Colorado. When disasters, tough surgical cases, or accidents occur, resource sharing becomes even more valuable. Bonfils prepares for and welcomes the chance to share resources with other blood donor programs in an effort to help save lives.

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