Heamovigilance for Safer Blood Transfusion Process

Heamovigilance is a surveillance programme aimed at identifying and preventing the occurrence and reoccurrence of transfusion related adverse reactions and events and to increase the safety and efficiency of transfusion process.

It surveys a chain of events from the collection of blood and its products to the follow up of the recipient. It is a continuous process of data collection and analysis of the adverse events related to blood and its products transfusion.

The blood and its product transfusion carry with it a risk of acute or late adverse reaction. The adverse events may range from fever, chills to delayed haemolytic reactions.

Some may even develop transfusion induced acute lung injury, bacterial contamination etc. Blood transfusion is a complex process involving more than 70 steps and error may occur in any step and will lead to adverse events. The lack of a clear idea about the roles and responsibility of the individuals involved, the lack of proper tools or procedure for the data collection, the incomplete knowledge about blood transfusions, the lack of necessary data of the transfusion, the carelessness during blood transfusion are the factors that lead to increase in adverse events in blood transfusion process.

The main aim of heamovigilance programme is to set guidelines for improving the quality of blood collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution and to follow up the recipient for providing better safety. Therefore it is important to have a standard protocol for guidance and to improve the safety and quality of blood transfusion process.