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Breaking the Rules; Group A Plasma in Emergencies
“Dr. Chaffin, I started working at a new blood bank recently, and I think they are breaking the rules! A patient came into the emergency room after an auto accident, and the FFP given to him was blood...
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Don’t Get Testy With Me! Blood Donor Infectious Testing
“Dr. Chaffin, I keep hearing about Zika virus on TV. It sounds scary, but I also heard that blood banks don’t test for Zika! How do blood centers decide which tests to perform? Can each center ‘do its...
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What’s in a Name? Ending Direct/Indirect Confusion
A few years ago, an intern called me and insisted that the blood bank staff was being uncooperative. This young physician stated that his attending physician had asked him to order a “Direct and...
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006: Ask BBGuy Mailbag
Dr. Chaffin opens the “Ask the BBGuy” mailbag to discuss D variants, Liquid Plasma, transfusion choices with warm autoantibodies, and directed donor unit management. See full discussion in written...
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Rhapsody in Rh! Explaining Rh Terminology
The Rh blood group system is spectacularly complex, while at the same time enormously important. Beginners trying to understand the system are often really confused by all the terminology that blood...
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Help! I’ve Acquired a B!
Everyone hates ABO discrepancies! OK, I’ll admit there are a few people out there that carry some sort of odd immunohematological nerd mutation that think ABO discrepancies are cool, but most humans...
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So You Want to be a “G-Wiz?”
One of the most frequently asked questions I get at lectures and from hospital transfusion services goes something like this: “What the HECK (or words to that effect) is anti-G?!” Most people have...
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The Essentials: Granulocytes
If you’ve been anywhere near a transfusion service, or ordered blood components from one, you know that granulocyte products are special. Along with looking different (imagine a platelet bag, but a...
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My Five Favorite Interviews of 2016!
2016 marked a new beginning for the Blood Bank Guy website. Among other major changes, I debuted the “Blood Bank Guy Essentials Podcast” in April, an interview-style educational audio presentation...
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ABO Blood Group System Testing – A Primer
The ABO Blood Group System is the foundation of everything we do in Transfusion Medicine. If you are wondering how we test patients and donors to determine their ABO type, this quick blog post is for...
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