Recent efforts and available technologies for safety in delivery of blood products

Over the past few decades, many efforts to improve the safety of blood products have concentrated on the reduction of transfusion-associated infectious diseases, particularly human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C. As health care enters a time of significant economic changes and governmental agencies develop guidances to improve patient safety, new efforts are being implemented and new technologies are being developed to ensure safe delivery of blood products. This article outlines the structure of agencies responsible for blood safety in the United States, reviews the fairly recent implementation of a blood product bar-code labeling system (ISBT 128) in the United States, describes safety efforts at the level of the hospital transfusion service, and reviews some of the emerging technologies for safety in blood delivery at the bedside.