Final answer:
Administering a blood transfusion requires verifying the patient's identity and blood type, obtaining informed consent, checking the blood product's integrity and expiration date, priming the blood administration set with normal saline, and administering the blood at the correct rate. In emergencies, type O negative blood may be used when the patient's blood type is unknown. For regular transfusions, a compatibility test is performed to ensure a safe match between donor and recipient blood types.
Step-by-step explanation:
The steps to administer a blood transfusion involve several critical stages to ensure both the safety of the patient and the compatibility of the blood product. Initially, healthcare providers must verify the patient's identity and blood type to prevent any mismatch, which could lead to serious complications.
Furthermore, it is essential to obtain informed consent from the patient, acknowledging that they understand the procedure and any potential risks involved. A check for the expiration date and integrity of the blood product is also necessary to ensure it is safe for use. Before the transfusion, the blood administration set is primed with normal saline to prevent any air embolism, and then the blood product is administered at the prescribed rate to control the flow and reduce the risk of transfusion reactions.
In emergency situations where a patient is experiencing severe hemorrhage and the blood type cannot be determined quickly, type O negative blood is transfused because it is considered the universal donor and has the lowest risk of causing an adverse reaction. This is vital when an immediate transfusion is necessary to save a patient's life as it bypasses the standard cross-matching procedures.
For regular transfusions, the patient's blood type is determined through blood testing, where commercially prepared antibodies against the A, B, and Rh antigens are mixed with the patient's red blood cells to identify their blood type. If both anti-A and anti-B antibodies cause agglutination in the patient's blood sample, this indicates that the patient has AB positive blood type, which is a normal response an confirms that no error was made during the typing test.