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Our Services
Blood Transfusions
Services Available
Austin Pathology provides a comprehensive 24/7 Blood Bank service to Austin Health, Mercy Hospital for Women (MHW), Kyabram District and Health, Kyneton, Seymour Health, Swan Hill District Health, Echuca Regional Health, Kilmore Hospital, Castlemaine Hospital and Mildura Base Hospital including:
Provision of blood and blood products
Pre-transfusion testing
Support is also provided to Goulburn Valley Health at Shepparton.
Pre-transfusion Samples
A sample for pre-transfusion testing (Group & Screen / Crossmatch) is always required from the patient who will receive blood components regardless of the urgency of transfusion. Blood should not be transfused prior to collection of this sample, however O negative uncrossmatched red cell units are available for emergency use only should time not allow for units to be available.
Pre-transfusion compatibility testing prior to transfusion involves:
Determining the ABO and Rh Group of the recipient
An antibody screen to detect the presence or absence of clinically significant red cell antibodies
Austin Health enforces a zero tolerance approach for mislabelled specimens and request forms.
Specimens and request forms that do not meet the mandatory minimum labelling criteria will not be accepted for processing and a new specimen and request form will be required
Specimen collection and all requests for products MUST comply with Austin Blood Specimen/Request form Labelling for Pre-Transfusion Testing policy (PDF)
