Australian Red Cross Blood Service

This refers to the practice of identifying certain products for specific reasons, and ensuring these products are not transfused until the quarantine is removed.

There are two main areas where quarantine will occur: in the laboratory and at the Blood Service.

Reasons for laboratory-initiated quarantine

• Certain units within inventory, or designated units that are delivered, are to be ‘quarantined’ or reserved for a specific patient

• Unusual appearance of blood components or plasma-derived products, or an identified problem with the product (eg, out of temperature range during transport; positive DECT test)

Reasons for Blood Service – initiated quarantine

• Out of specification transport of blood components or plasma-derived products (can be indicated by flashing data logger)

• A single donor recall, initiated when a donor reports an illness after the collection date, or when another patient who has received product from the same donor has had a reaction or infection 

• A process-related recall, initiated when there has been non-conformance with procedures or a defect is suspected in critical materiel used in the manufacture or testing of blood components and products 

If the Blood Service instructs your laboratory to quarantine blood components, please follow the direction of the Quality Manager from the Blood Service, or their delegate, to ensure quarantined components are not transfused.