- Email: [email protected]
Don’t let the smartphone fool you!
Transfusion and Apheresis Science 56 (2017) 854
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Transfusion and Apheresis Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/transci
Submitted Papers/Letter to the Editor Don’t let the smartphone fool you! The advent of advanced smartphone technologies has enabled consumers to rapidly communicate important medical information, including allergies, medical conditions, and emergency contacts [1]. A Medical ID feature has been built in to every iPhone (Apple, Cupertino, CA) since the September 2014 release of the iOS 8 operating system allowing users to also select their ABO and RhD blood type, even when the phone has been locked or made unavailable to the primary owner. Although not the first iteration of blood typing communication, these newer technologies help underscore a potential problem that has previously been reported on less technologically sophisticated mediums that allow blood typing information to be communicated even when the patient does not immediately volunteer the information—dog tags. Military identification cards and tags for transfusion purposes during emergency situations have been shown to be inaccurate and flawed [2]. Non-verifiable self-reporting of ABO/RhD blood typing may lead to confusion in time sensitive situations wherein a patient needs eminent transfusion support; moreover, how healthcare providers seek out adult blood consent [3] and blood typing information an unconscious patient may need revision. Cell phone users that inadvertently enter their ABO/Rh blood type incorrectly may compel healthcare workers to modify their approach to safely transfusing a patient. Imagine an unconscious 18 year old female patient brought in to your hospital, how do we best identify their blood type to ensure a safe transfusion? Should an emergency room nurse or physician deviate from specimen collection and appropriate blood bank testing? What information source can be trusted? A cell phone?
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transci.2017.10.001 1473-0502/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A medical identification bracelet? I would advocate that In lieu of technologically hunting for blood typing information or digital refusal information, I would support the continued vigilant adherence to rapid and accurate specimen collection leading to validated blood type testing results within the clinical laboratory over kitschy smartphone apps. References [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207021 (Accessed on 20 September, 2017). [2] Rentas FJ, Clark PA. Blood type discrepancies on military identification cards and tags: a readiness concern in the U.S. Army. Mil Med 1999;164(November (1)):785–7. [3] Migden DR, Braen GR. The Jehovah’s Witness blood refusal card: ethical and medicolegal considerations for emergency physicians. Acad Emerg Med 1998;5(August (8)):815–24.
Garrett S. Booth ∗ Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, Nashville, TN, USA ∗ Correspondence
to: 1301 Medical Center Drive, 4650H TVC, Nashville, TN, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] 20 September 2017 2 October 2017 10 October 2017
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Transfusion and Apheresis Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/transci
Submitted Papers/Letter to the Editor Don’t let the smartphone fool you! The advent of advanced smartphone technologies has enabled consumers to rapidly communicate important medical information, including allergies, medical conditions, and emergency contacts [1]. A Medical ID feature has been built in to every iPhone (Apple, Cupertino, CA) since the September 2014 release of the iOS 8 operating system allowing users to also select their ABO and RhD blood type, even when the phone has been locked or made unavailable to the primary owner. Although not the first iteration of blood typing communication, these newer technologies help underscore a potential problem that has previously been reported on less technologically sophisticated mediums that allow blood typing information to be communicated even when the patient does not immediately volunteer the information—dog tags. Military identification cards and tags for transfusion purposes during emergency situations have been shown to be inaccurate and flawed [2]. Non-verifiable self-reporting of ABO/RhD blood typing may lead to confusion in time sensitive situations wherein a patient needs eminent transfusion support; moreover, how healthcare providers seek out adult blood consent [3] and blood typing information an unconscious patient may need revision. Cell phone users that inadvertently enter their ABO/Rh blood type incorrectly may compel healthcare workers to modify their approach to safely transfusing a patient. Imagine an unconscious 18 year old female patient brought in to your hospital, how do we best identify their blood type to ensure a safe transfusion? Should an emergency room nurse or physician deviate from specimen collection and appropriate blood bank testing? What information source can be trusted? A cell phone?
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transci.2017.10.001 1473-0502/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A medical identification bracelet? I would advocate that In lieu of technologically hunting for blood typing information or digital refusal information, I would support the continued vigilant adherence to rapid and accurate specimen collection leading to validated blood type testing results within the clinical laboratory over kitschy smartphone apps. References [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207021 (Accessed on 20 September, 2017). [2] Rentas FJ, Clark PA. Blood type discrepancies on military identification cards and tags: a readiness concern in the U.S. Army. Mil Med 1999;164(November (1)):785–7. [3] Migden DR, Braen GR. The Jehovah’s Witness blood refusal card: ethical and medicolegal considerations for emergency physicians. Acad Emerg Med 1998;5(August (8)):815–24.
Garrett S. Booth ∗ Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, Nashville, TN, USA ∗ Correspondence
to: 1301 Medical Center Drive, 4650H TVC, Nashville, TN, USA. E-mail address: [email protected] 20 September 2017 2 October 2017 10 October 2017