Posted on Thursday October 31, 2019
Congratulations to Kelly Syer, RN, Lakeridge Health’s Blood Conservation Coordinator for her contributions to a groundbreaking study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open to design Ontario’s first Massive Hemorrhage Protocol (MHP). The study involved creating a set of recommendations for hospitals that will enable rapid and coordinated delivery of blood products in a patient who is hemorrhaging.
The study team, which was comprised of transfusion medicine specialists and technologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, critical care physicians and trauma physicians, looked at the issue and came up with 42 statements and eight quality indicators to form the basis of a province-wide protocol. These were evaluated using a modified Delphi technique that allows panelists to review and rate the proposed statements.
The panelists were 36 experts from across Ontario with diverse clinical backgrounds, including Syer during her time as Transfusion Safety Officer with Lakeridge Health’s Laboratory Medicine Program.
“Massive bleeding is a leading preventable cause of death following trauma, childbirth, and surgery,” says Dr. Jeannie Callum from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and lead author of the study. “Our study team believes that the standardization of a massive hemorrhage protocol in Ontario will simplify training, enhance communication and the use of evidence-based techniques, and most importantly improve patient comfort, safety and outcomes.”
The next phase of this work will be the creation of a MHP toolkit by the Ontario Regional Blood Coordinating Network (ORBCoN) funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, including specific recommendations for pediatric and obstetrical patients, and for hospitals with limited availability of blood components or means to achieve bleeding control.
To read the full study, visit CMAJ Open journal.
