Summary Against a background of ever increasing expenditure on blood safety, less attention has been paid to improving the safety of the transfusion chain within hospitals. Based on reports to the Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT scheme) between 1996 and 2003, the risk of an error occurring during transfusion of a blood component is estimated at 1:16 500, an ABO incompatible transfusion at 1:100 000 and the risk of death as a result of an ‘incorrect blood component transfused’ (IBCT) is around 1:1 500 000. There are opportunities for error at a number of critical points in the transfusion chain, starting with the decision to transfuse, prescription and request, patient sampling, pretransfusion testing and finally the collection of the component from the blood refrigerator and administration to the patient, consistently the commonest error in successive SHOT reports. Successive ‘Better Blood Transfusion’ initiatives and the 2003 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer for England have drawn welcome attention to the importance of safe and appropriate transfusion and the National Patient Safety Agency has now set a target of reducing the number of ABO incompatible transfusions by 50% over 3–5 years.

The introduction of two-person confirmation to the NHS would have a significant impact on the existing working practices. Issues related to resources and a cultural change will need to be addressed. Electronic confirmation was more feasible, but the technological aspects of its integration into the operating theatre environment, and learning, will require further attention.

Incubation periods and nest contents of three species of chelid tortoises in northern Victoria were recorded. Mean incubation period for eggs of Emydura macquari (Cuvier) was 75 days and average number of eggs per nest was 15.7; for Chelodina longicollis (Shaw), 138 days and 10.7 eggs per nest; for Chelodina expansa Gray, normally exceeding 324 days and 15.4 eggs per nest. In abnormal seasons C. expansa hatchlings may emerge from the nest in less than 193 days or more than 522 days after eggs were deposited. Eggs artificially incubated at 30�C consistently develop more quickly than those at lower temperatures under natural conditions. In the field nest temperatures closely approximate the mean daily air temperature. Embryos of C. expansa are tolerant to nest temperatures ranging from 4.9�C minimum to 29.6�C maximum. The other species are subject to variations of about 15 degC with up to 8.5 degC variation being recorded in 1 day. Development of early embryos approximated that recorded for cryptodire tortoises. However, there are large individual differences in the period of incubation needed for specific stages to be reached, especially between embryos of the short-necked and long-necked species of these pleurodire tortoises. It is suggested that differences in the anatomy of their eggs are the main factors in the different incubation periods between short-necked and long-necked species.

No abstract