When a review of our event management database
showed an increasing WBIT rate, eliminating WBIT
incidents was assigned a top priority for Mayo Clinic
Transfusion Medicine. This necessitated a safety
practice change to verify a patient’s blood type before
transfusion. For patients with no historical blood
type on file, ABO/Rh testing performed on a second
sample was now required prior to transfusion.
Advocacy for change was carried forward to
our institutional leadership to help support the
change and ultimately, the change was endorsed
by the Institutional Transfusion Committee. A
multidisciplinary team was formed to identify key
stakeholders, potential roadblocks and barriers, and
the resources needed to implement this change. A
formal change control procedure was initiated to
outline the necessary process that would be needed to
effect the change as well as for review and approval
by leadership and the affected work units.