Military units may develop a walking blood bank, with blood collected from unit members to treat soldiers with life-threatening combat injuries.
Advantages:
(1) no or limited access to refrigerated or frozen blood products
(2) no need for blood warmer
(3) available at site of need
(4) rapid availability in an emergency
(5) fits military ethos of unit cohesion
Requirements:
(1) accurate knowledge of all blood types
(2) access to blood collection bags
(3) accurate knowledge of infectious disease status of potential donors
Disadvantages:
(1) potential for transmission of unexpected infection
(2) potential for hemolytic reaction from unexpected antibodies
(3) increased risk for donor injury during unit collection
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Specialty: Clinical Laboratory
