How Talon Supports Phlebotomists to Improve Blood Drive Efficiency

The day of a blood drive should be rewarding for phlebotomists. Countless lives will be positively changed — or even saved — through the blood given by donors.

However, a blood drive can be challenging if there are inefficiencies in the process — whether packing, setting up, actually drawing blood, tearing down, or transporting. Also, variables such as uncertainty about how many donors to expect can also contribute to inefficiencies.

To improve blood drive efficiency, consider how Talon can support your most important functions to ensure that you spend more time with donors and less time worrying about logistics.

The Day of a Blood Drive: Talon Can Help Smooth Out Variables

Talon offers multiple solutions that integrate with the typical workflow on the day of a blood drive. This integration allows you to save time and be more efficient following your standard process.

1. Loading and Setting Up: How Many People and Which Equipment for a Blood Drive?

A blood drive can be unpredictable. Not every drive is like January when donors come out in droves for National Blood Donor Month.

Some drives might call for just one phlebotomist, while a medium-sized drive expecting 50-100 donors might require three phlebotomists plus a supervisor. Trying to plan for the range is a good starting point to know how many employees are required for the blood drive.

Also, you need to evaluate your equipment before a blood drive. You assuredly need an apheresis machine, storage equipment, and a transfer mechanism. The question is whether your equipment is slowing you down, contributing to inefficiencies in the workflow.

Many blood centers are moving away from bulky containers that require extra vehicles and personnel. The replacement option is a carting system that allows for easier transportation and quick set-up.

Talon helps improve blood drive efficiency through our multiple cart options for blood drives: SAM Cart, Storage Cart, Supply Transfer Cart, and Service Cart. Each of these carts is designed to optimize the workflow for a blood drive.

• Typical Time Spent Loading: 30 minutes
• Typical Time Spent Setting Up: 45 minutes

2. Drawing Blood: Streamline to Serve More Donors

After setting up, you need a streamlined process of drawing blood to ensure that you can serve as many donors as possible. Unfortunately, if you have inefficiencies in your workflow, you could be wasting valuable time at the blood drive that prevents you from serving as many donors as possible.

Whether you bring donors to your mobile station or take equipment to a staging area, you need the right plan centered around your apheresis machine and storage unit.

– Mobile Station: The cart system recommended by Talon allows you to quickly set up equipment in your vehicle. You can set up one or multiple SAM Carts at each station, use a Heavy Duty Service Cart or Supply Transfer Cart for medical supplies and equipment, and use a Blood Center Storage Cart to store blood once it has gone through the apheresis machine.

Alternatively, our carts integrate with non-Talon equipment if you prefer to keep an existing piece of equipment in your workflow. We are flexible to meet your specific needs.

– Staging Area: Because of the sturdy design of Talon carts, you can easily unload equipment from your vehicle and transport to the on-site staging area. Our carts are also secure to ensure that you can safely draw, process, and store blood in each unique environment.

The result of using the cart system is a quick and efficient process to serve as many donors as possible. Integrating our carts into your workflow helps smooth out the unpredictable nature of a blood drive so that you do not have to turn away donors due to long wait times.

• Typical Time Spent at a Blood Drive: 20 minutes per donor

3. Tearing Down and Transporting: Make a Smooth Delivery

After the blood drive is complete, you need an efficient process to make a clean delivery to your blood center. Before even thinking about transporting blood, though, many phlebotomists spend too much time tearing down.

Bulky containers often require multiple employees to haul equipment back into the vehicle. In a staging set-up, this means numerous trips back and forth from your mobile vehicle.

Comparatively, the Talon cart system helps improve blood drive efficiency. You can quickly pack your apheresis machine, medical supplies cart, and storage cart to return to your vehicle. Then, you are prepared to transport blood back to your blood center.

Once you return to the blood center, you can quickly unload using the Blood Center Storage Cart. This cart ensures safe and smooth delivery to the designated location. Then, you can return the cart to your mobile vehicle and finish the day.

• Typical Time Spent Tearing Down: 60 minutes
• Typical Time Spent Transporting: 15-20 minutes

Consider a Solution to Save Valuable Blood Drive Time

Upon review of the time requirements on the day of a blood drive>, nearly three hours is spent before and after the actual drive. A more efficient system can help shave off valuable time that can be re-allocated to serving donors.

We are proud that the Talon mobile carting system for blood centers condenses materials, minimizes space requirements, and eliminates bulky equipment to support a more efficient workflow.

To find out how Talon can help your blood center save valuable time and serve more donors on the day of a blood drive, enter your information in our Blood Center Mobile Carting Calculator. The calculator will reveal your short-term and long-term savings integrating our solutions into your workflow.

Then, after entering your information and calculating your savings, click the “Contact a Client Solutions Representative” button to submit your profile to our team. We look forward to hearing from you to start the process of improving blood drive efficiency for your blood center.