I have been a regular donor 2x weekly since Biolife opened in Davenport Iowa. I ask for this information and follow-up to be directed to the District Manager Supervisor who oversees the Davenport Iowa location so there is awareness of staff shortages or some needs for training protocol in response to alarms during donation.
I had a serious problem with my donation today. My first draw was fine. The machine paused at the beginning of the return and the alarm went off many times while I waited for the staff to respond for what seemed :10 minutes or more.
Apparently there may have been too much time elapsed and there may have been a clotting problem so machine unable to perform return of 200 ml.
There was very little staff in my area. The girl Maria who responded to my machine alarm was not even on the floor but came across room from desk area to the back to finally shut alarm off and alert staff in the section.
There are many staff who do excellent jobs but sometimes I have thought they are not staffed adequately; if one donor's return alarm goes off for so long that the blood can clot during the pause time and donor experiences a cell loss that's a problem and a waste. I don't understand the insensitivity of the importance at every stage to have adequate staff to help with issues like alarms or overflow times. I felt the alarm was ignored while it was frequently going off. I wondered if it was an air bubble but not sure what the signal meant.
Can you forward this information to a District Manager over the Davenport Iowa site. I do my best to maintain a high standard in my habits for plasma donations. I have been trying to ask questions including compensation wise about my metric ranges so I am or can be aware of any habits I need to maintain like low protein or iron.
It is unfortunate that the alarm rang so many times over an extended period that my blood clotted from sitting so long. I am deferred and can't donate for 2 months.
I do request to have this incident looked into. Is it possible there should be more staff available or have extra hands like supervisors or others during fluctuations like lunch breaks which were going on.
If an alarm becomes problematic that it interferes with machine return and clotting occurs, why was that allowed to continue for so long? There was an attendant directly across from me who did not stop what she was doing but I also thought she was new and may have not been familiar with everything. The other assistants that were in the area were elsewhere but not sure what tasks they were handling at the time.
Is it possible more staff may need more training or cross training to support one another during fluctuations. It seemed 3-staff were asking one another what to do; what it was considered and what to record while they were waiting for a walkie talkie response which took 3-tries until mms or person came back after cell loss. Things seemed chaotic for a moment and I was curious what was going on.
If I can be off further assistance please don't hesitate to contact me.
Claimed loss: deferred due to cell loss. Unable to donate for 8 weeks. Loss of services for 8 weeks.
Desired outcome: Request Review to address staff and training needs to respond to an extended alarm sounding multiple times causing blood clotting and unable to complete first return. Staff were asking one another questions of what to do.
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