PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Gschwender, Alyse N.
AU  - Gillard, Laurie
TI  - Disaster Preparedness in the Blood Bank
AID  - 10.29074/ascls.30.4.250
DP  - 2017 Oct 01
TA  - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
PG  - 250--257
VI  - 30
IP  - 4
4099  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/30/4/250.short
4100  - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/30/4/250.full
SO  - Clin Lab Sci2017 Oct 01; 30
AB  - Outline and describe the disaster management cycle.Identify guidelines available for developing a disaster management program.List technology and methods that blood centers and hospitals use to forecast blood product need during a disaster.When a natural or manmade disaster occurs, the first place the wounded are relocated to is the hospital. Disasters generate many types of injuries that may require the use of blood products. Blood Banks need to be prepared for a rapid influx of patients. Because of recent world events, the blood community has established guidelines to assist Blood Banks with creating successful Emergency Operations Procedures. Blood Banks can use these guidelines to create mock scenarios and tabletop exercises to estimate how the blood supply will be affected in the wake of disasters such as pandemics and blood shortages. Retrospective review of past disaster experiences such as earthquakes, airline crashes, and bombings can be used to evaluate what went well and what improvements to the process need to be made. Developing a disaster plan is a multistep process that includes determining the need for blood products, routes of communication, how to mobilize hospital staff, and how to procure more blood products. Once a plan is created, it should be practiced and improved upon, so flaws in the plan can be corrected and the best possible care for patients can be provided.ABBREVIATIONS: CLSI - Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, AABB - organization formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks, ED - emergency department, EMS - emergency medical service, EOP - emergency operations plan, MRCC - Medical Resource Control Center, MCI - Mass Casualty Incident, TASMC - Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, MAC - Medical Alert Center