Results of the survey on the present state of ABO-incompatible blood transfusion in Japan.

Consecutive national surveys of ABO‐incompatible blood transfusion in Japan

“…In many cases, procedural deviations occurred, including half of the hospitals that maintained their own procedures. Following the first survey, a standardized blood transfusion procedure manual emphasizing the final identification between patients and blood products was developed by the Japanese Society of Blood Transfusion, and this procedure has been widely propagated through distributing a poster showing the procedural manual by the Japanese Society of Blood Transfusion and JRC [6]. The second survey collected only about 30% as many identification errors as were reported in the first survey, even with the participation of an additional 251 hospitals.…”

“…Therefore, the actual incidence of ABO‐incompatible blood transfusion in our country has been uncertain. In order to investigate and guide methods of prevention, consecutive national surveys were initiated by the Japanese Society of Blood Transfusion (now the Japanese Society of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy) [6,7].…”

Network computer‐assisted transfusion‐management system for accurate blood component–recipient identification at the bedside

“…In the conventional transfusion‐management system, doctors, nurses, and transfusion services need to be highly vigilant to prevent transfusion errors. Recent studies regarding medical error indicated that health care is not as safe as it should be, confirming the adage “to err is human.” 1 With regard to transfusion errors, the report of the Japanese Society of Blood Transfusion 4 showed that 20 percent of hospitals participating in this survey had experienced an ABO‐mismatched transfusion at least once in the 5‐year period. Major causes of transfusion error were the failure to identify a blood bag or recipient at the bedside.…”

“…ABO‐mismatched transfusion has been noted as a typical medical error. To determine the incidence and causes of ABO‐mismatched transfusion, the Japanese Society of Blood Transfusion performed a national anonymous questionnaire‐based survey 4 . The targets of the survey were 777 hospitals with more than 300 beds and more than 3000 units of blood transfusion per year.…”