Final answer:
To ease a child's fears during a medical procedure, distraction techniques and simple explanations should be used instead of complex medical terminology or showing all equipment. For an emergency transfusion with unknown blood type, type O negative blood is used. Agglutination with both anti-A and anti-B antibodies indicates a type AB blood.
Step-by-step explanation:
Comforting a Child During a Medical Procedure
To ease the fears of a 9-year-old patient before drawing blood, a Patient Care Technician (PCT) should take steps to make the experience less intimidating. It is not advisable to explain the procedure using complex medical terms as this could confuse and scare the child. Allowing the child to see all the equipment beforehand may also increase anxiety. The PCT should avoid these approaches and instead:
- Use simple language to explain the procedure.
- Employ distraction techniques such as talking about a favourite activity or using a toy.
- Perform the procedure efficiently while providing reassurance.
Distraction and reassurance are key to reducing stress and fear.
Emergency Blood Transfusion
In an emergency where severe bleeding occurs and the patient's blood type is unknown, type O-negative blood is typically transfused. This is because O-negative blood is considered the universal donor type and is least likely to cause a reaction in recipients of all blood types. In urgent cases, the priority is to stabilize the patient.
Determining Blood Type
When a laboratory technician adds anti-A and anti-B antibodies to separate wells containing a patient's blood and both samples visibly agglutinate, this is a normal response indicating that the patient has type AB blood. This means that the patient's blood cells have both A and B antigens on their surface, reacting with both types of antibodies.