This first chapter of the Clinical Guide to Transfusion provides an overview of the blood system in Canada, the regulations and standards that are in place and the organizations and professionals that, together, ensure transfusion medicine safety for Canadian patients.
Canadian Blood Services, Trillium Gift of Life Network and the Canadian National Transplant Research Program worked in collaboration with the Critical Care Canada Forum (CCCF) to host the Deceased Organ Donation Symposium that took place October 3 to October 4, 2017. The program reviewed current clinical practices and advances in the science of organ donation medicine, including emerging topics and evolving research. Videos of the seminars were recorded to provide those unable to attend an opportunity to meet Canadian and international critical care experts in the field of deceased organ donation.
Modified or specialty blood components may be useful in specific clinical settings to reduce the risk of transfusion-related harm. Specialty blood products available to physicians include CMV-seronegative, irradiated, and washed red blood cells or platelets. This chapter describes the preparation of these blood components and the clinical setting in which they are of greatest benefit.
This chapter reviews the testing and treatments that are relevant for mothers and their fetuses/infants during pregnancy and postnatally to reduce the risks of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) and of immune thrombocytopenias.
National Organ and Tissue Donation & Transplantation (OTDT) Data Working Groups were created to establish standardized data sets to align information collected and reported across the country. The deceased donation minimum dataset provides a standardized Canadian approach to guide the collection of data which will lead to comparable metrics and is the next step in guiding and informing performance improvement.
By generously providing blood that can be manufactured into red blood cells, platelets and plasma products, whole blood donors are essential to the blood system and the patients it serves. Canadian Blood Services is committed to maintaining a safe and secure blood supply while also protecting the health of our blood donors. The focus of this article is the effect of red blood cell loss on the iron levels of the donor and the steps taken by Canadian Blood Services to protect the health of its donors.
The Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada System Progress Report 2006–2015, developed collaboratively with Canadian Blood Services organ donation and transplantation advisory committees, provides the most current available national data on deceased and living donation and transplantation performance in Canada. The report presents an overview of the state of the country’s donation and transplantation system today.
