Video: What You Should Know About Blood Transfusions
A new video produced by the Transfusion Medicine's Patient Blood Management Program highlights the importance of conservative transfusion and the initiatives aimed at providing the highest quality care and optimal patient outcomes.
It includes testimonials from esteemed URMC providers, including Peter Knight, M.D., Michael Eaton, M.D., and Anthony Pietropaoli, M.D.
In non-life-threatening situations, the potential risks versus the expected benefits of blood transfusions must be considered. UR Medicine has strategies for:
- Avoiding transfusions when it may not be necessary for patients
- Approaches for those who choose to refuse blood transfusions for religious (i.e. Jehovah’s Witnesses) or personal reasons
- Provisions for those who opt to only accept transfusions or blood component therapy in life-threatening situations
This video can help staff educate our patients and families on the benefits of blood management by highlighting strategies used to avoid transfusion, explaining why this is important. Blood transfusion should be considered a “liquid organ transplant,” and the decision to transfuse blood should always include careful assessment of the potential risks versus the expected benefits.
More info is available at www.TransfusionSafety.urmc.edu.
Bethany Bushen | 11/14/2017
