Blood safety refers to the monitoring and ensuring the safety of the entire sequence starting from the donation session and leading uninterrupted to blood transfusion and follow-up of the patient.
Blood safety encompasses investigation and monitoring of the adverse reactions caused by blood transfusions, adverse events and transfusion errors. The investigation and identification of the causes behind such events makes it possible to reduce the risks associated with blood transfusions.
Legislation requires that any serious adverse reactions and adverse events associated with blood transfusions must be reported to the authorities. In practice, the notifications are filed at the Blood Service's Blood Safety Office, which takes care of reporting these to the authorities. Mild adverse reactions are registered at the hospital's own laboratory/blood centre, which reports them to the Blood Safety Office at the end of the year. A notification on a mild adverse reaction can also be filed at the Blood Safety Office upon its occurrence.
According to regulations, the Blood Safety Office operating at the Blood Service is responsible for reception and forwarding of notifications on adverse transfusion reactions and events to the authorities (the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea). The Blood Safety Office collects information on all adverse reactions related to blood products, transfusion errors, and adverse events. This information is used for developing the safety of blood transfusion therapy.
The Blood Safety Office provides counselling and helps hospitals investigate adverse reactions and events related to blood transfusions.
Contact information
Blood Safety Office, tel. +358 29 300 1100![]( "Soita: +358 29 300 1100")
veriturva(at)veripalvelu.fi
