Haemovigilance can be defined in a number of ways however NZBS has chosen to adopt the Council of Europe definition which states that haemovigilance is:
" The organised surveillance procedures related to serious or unexpected events or reactions in donors or recipients and the epidemiological follow up of donors "
The provision of safe transfusion therapy is a basic requirement of advanced medical care. Despite major advances in viral and bacterial detection and the subsequent reduction in risk of transfusion transmitted infections there are still other significant risks associated with transfusion.
The NZBS haemovigilance programme involves the receipt and analysis of reports of transfusion-related adverse events. The data gathered from the programme enables NZBS to:
The first point of contact with the programme will normally be through submission of a report regarding an adverse event occurring during the transfusion process. This report will generally be submitted by your Transfusion Safety Officer (TSO) who in most cases is the Blood Bank Charge Scientist or Transfusion Nurse Specialist (TNS). The Blood Bank in each DHB will be able to inform you who undertakes the role.
NZBS is an active member of the International Haemovigilance Network (IHN). This organisation aims to standardise haemovigilance activities to support benchmarking of data. NZBS utilise the internationally agreed definitions when evaluating and classifying adverse events.
Last modified:
Login using your online or NZ Blood Service Donor App login details.
If you do not have a login please Register Now, using the button below.
Once registered, your login details will be the same for both the website and the NZ Blood Service Donor app.