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Caitlin Raymond: Why Transfusion Medicine Should Be Looped in Early in Transfusion Reactions

Caitlin Raymond/LinkedIn

Mar 6, 2026, 14:33

Caitlin Raymond: Why Transfusion Medicine Should Be Looped in Early in Transfusion Reactions

Caitlin Raymond, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Many clinicians don’t realize that the blood bank has its own physician-led consult service available 24/7, aka Transfusion Medicine.

In many hospitals, the blood bank laboratory and the Transfusion Medicine service operate as one integrated safety system — but they serve different functions.

The lab ensures:

Compatibility
Product preparation
Regulatory compliance

Transfusion Medicine provides:

Real-time clinical judgment
Reaction evaluation
Risk–benefit consultation
Hemovigilance oversight

When a patient develops hypoxia, hypotension, or fever during a transfusion, the question shifts from ‘What do the labs show?’ to ‘Is this TRALI? TACO? Hemolysis? Sepsis? Something else?’

That distinction between laboratory information and clinical judgement matters, both for the patient in front of you and for the integrity of hospital safety data.

I wrote about our complimentary roles in patient safety, and why Transfusion Medicine should be looped in early in transfusion reactions.”

Caitlin Raymond: Why Transfusion Medicine Should Be Looped in Early in Transfusion Reactions