Prepared // #ADayInTheLifeOfABiomedicalScientist

1. She bleeped twice. I was on the phone to the cardiology SHO, who had called to check if blood had been ordered for the patients going for surgery the following morning. It was a daily ritual. I had checked 4 patients so far.

2. I scribbled her number on the scrap bit of paper next to me, underneath countless others that had been written and subsequently crossed out when I had returned their call.

"Hi, this is the transfusion lab, did you bleep?" I said, while trying to finish a previous request.

3. My neck is long so unfortunately, I cannot go 'handsfree' and make use of both my hands when on a call.

"Thank you for calling back and sorry to bother you. I'm the paediatric fellow," she began. I don't know why people apologise for calling, each call is important.

4. "We have a patient en route to the hospital in an ambulance. She has a knife wound. I wanted to know what we should do to prepare."

"Do you have a hospital number?" I asked, searching for a telephone request form which I had left on the manual bench earlier.

5. "We haven't booked her in on the system yet," she explained.

"No worries," My brain was churning. I was tired as it was my second night shift and I hadn't managed to sleep much during the day due to my neighbour deciding to drill all day. What did he need so many holes for?

6. "When the patient arrives can you take 2 group and screen samples and send them to us urgently. Are you anticipating that she'll need blood?" I asked, wanting to make sure I gave appropriate advice.

"I can't really say until she gets here, but maybe we can keep some on hand."

7. I don't agree with keeping lots of blood on standby. It takes it away from stock which could be issued to another patient and also results in wastage. I needed more information.

"How old is the patient?"

"She's 5."

I knew knife crime in London was bad, but a 5 year old?!

8. Now wasn't really the time to ask. As a 5 year old female she'd be treated as an adult with child bearing potential in terms of red blood cells. That was fine. We had ample stock of all products. Phew. No need to make emergency orders from the National Blood Service.

9. I asked the Fellow for the patient's name and scribbled it down, thinking how it sounded like one from Greek mythology.

And then I waited.

But there's never usually time do nothing; something is always pending, pushed further and further down on the list of things to do.

10. There were cards waiting to be read on the analyser. One, a weak D, 2+ reaction that needed to be investigated. I hadn't had a chance to log onto SpICE, the national database of reports generated by the NHS Blood and Transplant reference laboratories. Was the patient known?

11. The MLA had performed a glandular fever screen and as I was the nearest BMS around, he called me over to check. I lifted the card to the light and gave it a gentle shake.

"Neg control is neg, pos is pos, and the patient is also neg," I said checking the patient details.

12. "Anas," I heard somebody call my name and turned around. It was one of the staff working in specimen reception. "There's a doctor at the hatch who has some samples for you."

"I'll authorise the results when I get back," I said and made my way to reception.

13. It was the paediatric fellow I had spoken to on the phone. "Here are the samples," she said holding a bag towards me with 2 small volume pink top EDTA tubes. "How long would it take to process them, and get 2 units of red cells?"

"If everything is fine, then 45 mins or so."

14. "But if something changes and you need emergency products and can't wait for crossmatched blood, you know my number, so give me a call and we can organise something."

I wanted to make sure that she knew no matter what the situation was, we'd be prepared.

15. "My details are on the form, can you give me a call when you've done the testing and I can request blood properly?"

"Sure thing."

I walked back to the lab and took out 2 grouping cards and 2 antibody screening cards. These were manual groups 8 and 9 of the night.

16. With 5 minutes left for the antibody screen to finish, the fellow called again.

"Sorry again, how long is left? I can't see the results on EPR yet," she said.

"Just another 5 or so minutes." I replied. "Do you need blood."

She paused and thought. "We do, but we'll wait."

17. In the end, of the 2 units issued, only 1 was transfused. No other products were needed. As the paediatric fellow had taken the time to call the lab beforehand, I was able to prepare and make sure I had adequate stock in case things went south. A heads up can go a long way.

18. I called her an hour later to ask if anything else was needed and what happened to the patient. Turns out, it was an accident rather than a malicious attack and she was now stable.

I said goodbye and glanced at the scrap paper, with numbers to call and things to do.