About the Course

This course aims to cover the science underpinning the principles of transfusion medicine and the uses and risks of (and, where applicable, alternatives to) commonly used blood components that you will see in daily practice.

This course is part of the F|Docs library for foundation doctors and will also be relevant to those in medical school or core training. 

The course takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.

Foundation Programme Curriculum

This course covers the following Foundation Programme Curriculum areas:

14. Performs procedures safely
19. Makes patient safety a priority in clinical practice

To view the rest of the curriculum and which courses correspond to each area, click here.

About the Authors

Dr Conrad Hayes

Clinical Medical Educationalist

Dr Conrad Hayes is a Histopathology trainee in the West Midlands. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Adam Thomas

Clinical Medical Educationalist

Dr Adam Thomas is a GP trainee in the West Midlands. He has completed Core Surgical Training and is completing his Masters in Medical Education.

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

    • Introduction

    • Why is this important?

    • Aims of the course

  • 2

    Basic Science of Blood

    • Introduction

    • Whole blood

    • Blood typing

    • Knowing the blood type

    • Determining what patients can receive

    • Rh group

    • ABO incompatibility

    • Platelets

    • Coagulation cascade
  • 3

    Blood Donation

    • Blood donation
  • 4

    The Components

    • Introduction

    • Red cells

    • Prescribing red blood cells

    • Platelets

    • Fresh frozen plasma

    • Cryoprecipitate
  • 5

    Patient Factors in Transfusion Medicine

    • Introduction

    • Pregnant transfusion

    • Renal transplant recipient

    • Haemoglobinopathy

    • Hepatitis E
  • 6

    Consenting Patients

    • Introduction

    • Questions that must be answered by patients

    • Patients awareness of procedure

    • Patients awareness of risks

    • Documentation of consent
  • 7

    Obtaining Your Sample

    • Introduction

    • Positive patient identification

    • Identifiers

    • Venepuncture

    • Post procedure

    • Lab request form

    • Zero tolerance
  • 8

    Setting Up the Transfusion

    • Introduction

    • Administration of blood

    • Check blood unit

    • Procedure

    • Set up the infusion

    • Protocol throughout the infusion

    • Documentation
  • 9

    Adverse Transfusion Reactions

    • Introduction

    • Acute transfusion reaction ATR

    • Acute haemolytic reaction

    • TACO and TRALI

    • Delayed reactions

    • Immediate management of acute transfusion reaction

    • Major haemorrhage protocol
  • 10

    Alternatives to Transfusion

    • Introduction

    • Anaemia

    • Alternative options to transfusion

    • Oral iron

    • Intravenous iron

    • Before surgery

    • Erythropoietin
  • 11

    Conclusion

    • Conclusion
  • 12

    Quiz

    • Test yourself
  • 13

    Answers

    • Answers