Raise A Transfusion Request

A transfusion starts with a clinician asking for blood. On the Transfusion Requests board you raise that request: who needs it, what component, how many units, how urgent, and why. The blood bank then takes it from there — crossmatching and issuing the actual units. The board lays open requests out by urgency so the most time-critical ones are impossible to miss.

A few terms up front. A component is the specific blood product — PRBC (packed red blood cells), platelets, plasma and so on — rather than “whole blood”. Group-and-save means the lab establishes the recipient’s group and holds a tested sample ready, but issues no units yet; it is the right choice when blood is possibly needed but not certainly. An indication is the clinical reason for the transfusion (for example a haemoglobin threshold). MTP stands for massive transfusion protocol, the rapid multi-unit response to catastrophic bleeding.

Who / when: the ordering clinician, whenever a patient needs blood or needs a sample held against the possibility of needing blood. Raising a request is clinician work — the fulfilling blood-bank roles crossmatch and issue, they do not raise requests.

We will follow Dr Eze, who needs two units of red cells for a ward patient.

The main path

1. Clinician — open Blood Bank → Requests. The board shows four urgency lanes — “Massive”, “Emergency”, “Urgent” and “Routine” — with the open requests sitting in their lane. Press “New Request” at the top right.
2. Clinician — in the “New Transfusion Request” dialog, search and pick the “Recipient Patient”, then search and pick the “Ordering Clinician” (the clinician responsible for the order). Both are searchable pickers.
3. Clinician — choose the “Component” (Dr Eze picks “PRBC”), set “Units Requested” (he sets 2), and pick the “Urgency” lane. Leave “Group And Save Only” on “No (crossmatch + issue)” when units are actually to be issued.
4. Clinician — type the “Indication” — the clinical reason or haemoglobin threshold. It is required. Press “Create Request”.
5. Clinician — the new request appears as a card in its urgency lane, showing the patient, component, units, the recipient’s group and the request reference. The blood bank now picks it up to crossmatch and issue.

Note

At the top of the board, three live readouts track the bigger picture: “Open Issues” (units handed out but not yet given), “Active Transfusions” (running at the bedside right now) and “Reactions Today” (haemovigilance events). They update as the day moves.

Tip

The urgency you choose is not just a label — it decides the lane the request lands in and, for Emergency and Massive requests, it unlocks the blood bank’s rapid uncrossmatched O-negative / MTP issue at the Issue Desk. Pick the urgency that honestly matches the clinical situation.

Caution

Raising a request is restricted to the ordering clinician. If your role is a fulfilling blood-bank role, the “New Request” button is not shown to you — fulfilling roles crossmatch and issue units, they do not order them. This is the order-versus-fulfil separation that keeps blood safe.

Other ways this goes

Urgent, Emergency or Massive — it lands in its own lane

1. Clinician — set “Urgency” to “Urgent”, “Emergency” or “Massive” when the situation demands it. The request appears in that lane, marked in a warning or critical tone so it stands out from routine work.
2. Clinician — for Emergency and Massive requests the blood bank can rapid-issue group-O Rh-negative units before a crossmatch completes, and a Massive request switches the massive transfusion protocol on when units are issued — so choose these only when they are clinically true.

Group-and-save only — a sample is held, no units issued

1. Clinician — set “Group And Save Only” to “Yes (sample held only)”. Veona records the request and holds a tested sample, but reserves and issues no units.
2. Clinician — the request card carries a “G&S” marker so everyone can see no units are coming yet. If the patient later does need blood, the request is converted and units are then crossmatched and issued in the normal way.

Indication and ordering clinician are required

1. Clinician — if you press “Create Request” without a recipient, an ordering clinician, or an indication, Veona stops you with a clear message — “Select the recipient patient.”, “Select the ordering clinician.” or “An indication is required.” — and nothing is created.
2. Clinician — supply the missing field and create the request. The indication is mandatory because every unit of blood must have a documented clinical reason.

Cancel a request before it completes

1. Clinician — click a request card to open its detail drawer. While the request is still open (not yet “Completed” or “Cancelled”), a “Cancel Request — Reason” field is shown.
2. Clinician — type why it is being cancelled and press “Cancel Request”. A reason is required. Veona cancels the request and releases any units that were held against it — reserved units flip back to available so they are not stranded.

What happens next

Once raised, the request waits on the board for the blood bank to act. A scientist crossmatches a compatible unit against it, which advances the request and notifies you that blood is ready; the unit is then reserved and issued from the Issue Desk as an eSigned cold-chain checkout, before it is taken to the bedside and given with a two-person check. A group-and-save request simply waits with its sample held until — and unless — it is converted. You can follow any request’s progress by opening its card on the board.

Follow the trail

• Previous: Run The Recipient Antibody Screen
• Next: Crossmatch A Request Against A Unit · Move Units Between Network Facilities
• Related: Reserve And Issue The Unit · Run The Bedside Two-Person Check And Transfuse