Validating a Pneumatic Tube System for Blood Product Delivery

Abstract Introduction/Objective Timely delivery of blood products can be of utmost importance to providing quality care. We aimed to validate the use of a high-speed pneumatic tube system (PTS) that was already installed at our hospital. By reducing delivery times, patient resuscitation and survivability can be increased. Methods/Case Report We followed the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) guidelines to validate a PTS in a large tertiary academic medical center. The requirements include: verifying product suitability, ensuring product integrity, temperature monitoring, transportation time measurements, and proper packaging and tracking of product receipt. We validated the transfer of packed red blood cells (PRBC), plasma, platelets, and cryoprecipitate from the central blood transfusion services lab (BTS) to nursing stations in a separate building up to 1500 feet (>1/4 mile) away using a Swisslog Translogic® PTS Inclusion with foam inside the PTS carriers helped reduce bumps during transit and insulated products from heat. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) The mean temperature of the PRBC was 6.6 degrees Celsius and none exceeded the AABB maximum of 10 degrees Celsius. The mean time for blood products transit to the nursing stations was 3 minutes (m) and 33 seconds (s). The median time was 3m 31s, and it ranged from 2m 18s to 5m 38s. The PTS reduced delivery times of blood products by up to 10-12 minutes compared to manual porters. Conclusion Transporting blood products via PTS is an efficient method that reduces the required manpower and leads to better utilization of resources. However, it is essential to validate the PTS system before implementing it operationally.