What You Should Know About Reusable Blood Warmer

By Margaret Snyder


Typically, when you donate blood, it is stored in a refrigerator to enhance its life, if at that time is not transfused to a patient. The temperature in the refrigerator is lower than the standard blood body temperature. If you inject this ice-cold fluid into your body system, you may cause conditions like arrhythmias, shock, and hyperthermia. Therefore, you need to use the reusable blood warmer to provide the fluid with the appropriate and necessary temperature before you incorporate into the body.

These devices come in three different types in regard to the warming technique and technology used. The first type is the one that uses dry heat method. The other types include using a water bath and the other countercurrent. This can be done before transfusion or during the process which is referred to as in-line warming. The device, however, is made with a technology that prevents any loss of heat but it does not provide heat retaining methods.

Once you raise the temperature to the one required which is thirty-seven degree Celsius, you transfuse the fluid into your body since when you don't do it, it will naturally cool down to where the temperature was initially. Additionally, it can provide heat without interfering with the living cells like WBC and RBC.

Nevertheless, they are able to provide heat and warmth to this fluid without affecting the functioning and structure of living cells like white and red blood cells as well as other cells. These devices are therefore important and are usually used during transfusion of large amounts of blood such as half or above half of the whole body volume. They also play important role in providing the necessary temperature when transfusion is to be done in a rapid manner.

However, it is important to have certain specific considerations before administering the procedure to patients who are elderly, pediatric, neonates, as well as those with chronic infections and cardiac dysfunction. However, the device should be operating before the entire exercise begins. One of the reasons being that it cannot be switched on, at the same time, it is has provided the required temperature.

It is an advantageous device as the patients are able to attain the required body temperatures and any side effect of low or cold temperatures is eradicated. Another benefit of this device is that it does not get disposed of together with the bags and storage. It is used again and again. In the case of countercurrent, it only requires fixing it to the bag or the body and switching it on and starts operating.

However, they are drawn back by aspects like failure to have temperature maintenance ability. The only way to keep the fluid warm is by constant functioning, once switched off, they cannot maintain the attained temperature.

Infusing warm fluids in the bloodstream does not necessarily mean that the body temperature will rise. They are just remedial ways of providing warmth.




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