The Comprehensive Blood Bank Survey Program of the College of American Pathologists--1977

The 1977 CAP Comprehensive Blood Bank Survey was sent to 2487 laboratories in the United States and five foreign countries. The results show that ABO and Rh testing has a continued concurrence of greater than 94.8% between participating and referee laboratories, while antibody detection was 95.9% effective on the type problem normally encountered in a transfusion service. Cross match showed a concurrence rate of 97.3% or better. Although these testings are artificial and cannot be directly extrapolated into effectiveness of patient care, they can be compared with each other and show a standard of excellency in the laboratory which is a good or better than that found in previous studies. A series of ungraded specimens and questionnaires shows that most laboratories used a 51 degree C heat elution method for antibody elution, but slightly better results were obtained with the Rubin technic. A second study showed that the grading of a positive direct antiglobulin test was fairly reproducible throughout the country.