No one can predict what future crises awaits tomorrows healthcare professionals, but what we do know is that severely hemorrhaging patiens will need blood products, whether any crisis or not. As the first Biomedical scientist students in Norway they underwent two days of practical and theoretical lectures in bloodprepardness with Nokblod. 

The practical skills the students need to know are tailord for situations they may face during catastrophes, without electricity or laboratories and beyond their normal work environment. The skills can be applied almost anywhere, in a ambulance, in the Emergency department or at the site of an accident. 

The students analysed their own blood in order to find their bloodtype using Eldon cards. A small rapid test which requires minimal equipment, no electricity and can help healthcare providers determine the blood type of a donor in a crisis or disaster setting, where normal procedures are unavailable. 

The next step was to collect fresh whole blood. The students collected blood from each other, indeed not a full bag but enough for them to familiarize themselves with all the steps in the procedure, including collecting blood samples, tying knots on the lines rather then using an electrical tube sealing device.

Finally the students learn to prepare the blood bags for tranfusion. Connecting a transfusion set, prepping the line and starting a tranfusion is normally a task for nurses, but in an emergency its important that biomedical scientist know how to do these steps as well, in order to alleviate the workload for other staff. 

The two day course by Nokblod was integrated into the students curriculum in Transfusion medicine. By incorporating blood prepardness into the study program, as Western Norway University of Applied Sciences have done, they are taking an active step towards making future biomedical scientist better prepared for any future crisis.

Do you wish to learn more about emergency blood transfusions and blood prepardness? Check out our educational content here.