Emergency preparedness, resilience and response guidance for hospital transfusion teams

The Emergency Planning Working Group are delighted to announce that the reviewed Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response guidance for Hospital Transfusion Teams was approved in January 2019 by the National Blood Transfusion Committee (NBTC) and is now available in the Emergency Planning Working Group section of the JPAC website. 

This guidance has been updated for transfusion teams for use in major incidents and mass casualty events. This follows experience of multiple major incidents in 2017 that have presented a range of challenging clinical scenarios such as blast injury, penetrating injury, unlike those seen in day to day practice.

The guidance has been developed on behalf of the NHS, to establish and share best practice using experience from both military and civilian practice and lessons identified.

Organisations should share this guidance within hospital teams, so staff can be appropriately trained in responding to major incidents.

Dr Heidi Doughty, Consultant in Transfusion Medicine (NHSBT); Chair of the NBTC Emergency Planning Working Group
Dr Fateha Chowdhury, Consultant Haematologist in Transfusion Medicine (NHSBT & Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust); Secretary of the NBTC Emergency Planning Working Group.

Craig Wilkes, Regional Customer Service Manager, South West