BLOOD SAFETY IN THE OR: THE BLOODYTRUTH.

Blood transfusions are lifesaving and life-sustaining treatments given to patients in many clinical areas of a hospital with a large proportion occurring in the Operating Room (OR).6 Transfusion related errors are rare events in the OR but they do occur and are often severe enough to cause patient morbidity and mortality. Therefore, care must be taken in all elements of the transfusion process. The purpose of this article is to build awareness around the potential for critical errors during the blood transfusion process in the OR and ways in improving the safety of blood transfusion for all surgical patients.