Low-titer group O whole blood implementation in a tertiary care hospital in Estonia.

Abstract

The implementation of the use of low titre group O whole blood in the North Estonia Medical Centre took place in a little more than 2 years. It began with the creation of a low-titer O+ male donor registry, included a pilot project with a limited number of patients, validation of whole blood as a new product, and also required a change in the Estonian law. Today, whole blood is in routine use in emergency patients of both sexes and all ages with life-threatening bleeding. Among the indications, gastro intestinal bleeding comes first, followed by acute blood loss associated with trauma. Whole blood is also included in the massive transfusion protocol.