Development of the Risk-Based Decision-Making Framework for Blood Safety
The Risk-Based Decision-Making Framework for Blood Safety was created under the auspices of the ABO. It grew out of a series of activities that began with the International Consensus Conference on Risk-Based Decision-Making for Blood Safety in Toronto in 2010.
The consensus statement that emerged from these discussions acknowledged that:
- though blood transfusion is an integral component of medical practice, risk is inherent from 'vein-to-vein'
- achieving zero risk is unattainable, and the well-being of transfusion recipients is central to any recommendation to improve blood safety decision-making.
- product safety and supply responsibilities reside with blood operators.
From this consensus statement, it was decided that an integrated risk framework must be developed to improve decision-making, facilitate proportional responses to risk, ensure decisions are evidence-based, increase trust in investment decisions, and allow for the re-direction of resources to improve effectiveness.
The outcomes of the conference have been published in Transfusion Medicine Review and Vox Sanguinis.
See our publications page for other articles on risk-based decision-making.