A Global Perspective of Roles, Responsibilities and Impact of Transfusion Safety Officers

Program Chair(s)

• 

  Suzanne Thibodeaux, MD, PhD, CABP(H) (she/her/hers)

  Associate Professor
  Washington University School of Medicine
  St. Louis, Missouri, United States

  Disclosure(s): Beam Therapeutics: travel expenses to investigator's meeting (Terminated, September 11, 2023)

  PDF

Speaker(s)

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  Asawari Bapat, MD, PGDHHM, CABP(H), DABRM, FABRM. (she/her/hers)

  Consultant
  Global Regenerative Medicine Consultant, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

  PDF
• RS

  Richard Schäfer, MD

  Medical Director, Transfusion Services
  Medical Center University of Freiburg
  Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

  Disclosure(s): Cytena GmbH: Grant/Research Support (Ongoing)
• NA

  Nour Al-Mozain, MD, CABP, QIA

  King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research center-Riyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia

  Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Session Desription: Transfusion Safety Officers (TSO) are are being increasingly recognized as an important component of blood transfusion safety. A conduit for transfer of critical information regarding blood product transfusion between clinicians and laboratorians, TSO roles have evolved over time in tandem with advances in the transfusion medicine field to bring the most current best practices to the point of care of blood transfusion delivery. The role of TSOs is broad, ranging from patient-specific with individual investigations up to evaluation of system-level data. TSO roles are also dynamic and may vary in day-to-day activities to reflect various settings in which TSOs practice. Being situated at the intersection of laboratory and clinical aspects of transfusion medicine allows for TSOs to recognize trends, identify areas for potential improvement and implement strategies to optimize blood transfusion safety while also adapt across different practice settings. This session will outline the roles and responsibilities of transfusion safety officers, present inclusive and informative perspectives from different practice settings spanning across hospitals and geography, and discuss potential challenges and future directions.