Life Guard indicators can be applied on warm and cold blood bags, as well as in activated and not activated status. In non-activated status Life Guard indicators are yellow.
The individual blood bank or hospital ulitmately decides upon the time and place of application depending on the desired method of processing RBC units.
The blood bag must be clean and free from oil and moisture before applying Life Guard indicators. Peel off the indicator from the sheet and stick it directly onto the blood bag. Avoid contact with adhesive in order to maintain full adhesive strength. If the label of the blood bag has an empty space available, the indicators can also be applied there without influencing colour change. Application is recommended to the lower part of the blood bag, but - in any case - always at a site where the greatest mass of blood components is expected during storage and transport.
Handling Procedure
Application
Activation:
A special UV-C light source ensure easy, quick and contactless activation of Life Guard indicators. Before the indicators are activated, they have to be sufficiently cooled (to 6 °C or lower). Activation serves as a built-in quality check for sufficient cooling of blood bags before issuing them and, at the same time, proves that the indicator is 100% functional upon successful activation.
“Tempmatic” activation device: To activate indicators on individual blood bags, switch on activation device, insert a sufficiently cooled blood bag, with the indicator on the upper side, into the activation device until it signals full activation (also refer to the user manual of the activation device). To protect the Skin, gloves must be used whenever activation is carried out.
Flatbed activation device: If a cool room is available, the flatbed activation device is an additional option for processing large quantities. One or two sheets of indicators ( 40 or 80 indicators) can be activated simultaneously so as to effect activation in 15 seconds. Activated indicators can easily be applied to the blood bags in the cool room using the small handle. Special protective Equipment, such as gloves, is not needed when using this device
INTERPRETATION
1) Before activation, indicators are yellow.
2) After activation, indicators are dark blue/grey and begin to monitor temperature on an ongoing basis.
3)If temperatures are critically exceeded, with variance starting at 12.5 °C to 13.5 °C, this is indicated by a bright orange colour in the centre that remains irreversible even if the blood bag is refrigerated again.
For precise Interpretation, On Point indicators GmbH provides a colour reference table. Interpretation has to be carried out by trained personnel who are familiar with the handling and characteristics of blood bags and Life Guard indicators. The effective insulation of Life Guard indicators eliminates the risk of incorrect temperature indication caused, for example, by unintentional manual contact. To protect the indicator from undesirable warming, the blood bag should not be squeezed at the indicator site.
on point medicals GmbH
Pharmaziegasse 5
9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee
Phone +43 463 410355
Fax +43 463 410355 109
office@onpoint.at