Patient Got Wrong Blood Type

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A pregnant 33-year-old patient was transfused with the wrong blood type at a Hazelton hospital when two nurses failed to verify her name and blood type prior to initiating the transfusion.
A recently released report from the Pennsylvania Health Department details the error which occurred in January at the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazelton. The seven-page report indicates the error did not cause any harm. The hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The patient, who was 24 weeks pregnant, was brought to the hospital on Jan. 8 by ambulance minutes after midnight. According to the report she had severe bleeding and was pale and shivering on arrival.
Though she had no active bleeding on arrival she had extensive vaginal bleeding the night before and was experiencing uterine contractions. She was placed on a heart monitor and a blood transfusion was ordered, the report states.
The records showed there were "positive fetal heart tones and positive fetal movement."
The patient's blood type was O Positive, but when a transfusion was ordered she was transfused with B Positive blood.
"There was no documentation that two registered nurses verified the patient name, date of birth and blood type prior to the administration of the blood," the report states.
"There was documentation MR1 (the 33-year-old patient) received one unit of B Positive blood which was intended for another patient in the emergency room," the report continues.
The surveyors reported that the transfusion was "stopped immediately," adding that records showed the error had no deleterious effect on the patient.
She was subsequently transferred to a tertiary care hospital in stable condition.
The hospital filed a plan of correction in which it agreed to conduct re-education sessions with staffers and revised procedures to ensure that a double check was performed prior to any transfusions.
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