Animal Blood Transfusion Services
Dear colleague
The Tygerberg Animal Blood Transfusion Service has now been operating for over 24 months and has been well received bythose practices that have made use of it to date.
For those of you who have forgotten, or are not aware, the service is run and managed by Tygerberg Animal Hospital in Bellville. Our goal was to establish a blood transfusion service that is available when and where you need it, 24/7 – fresh frozen plasma and packed red blood cells available at a moment’s notice. We strive to have enough packed redblood cells and fresh frozen plasma on hand at all times to provide for that patient that needs it now and cannot wait for the donor to be fetched andbled. Never again will you need to bleed a dog andhave the blood expire in your fridge.
Our donor dogs are all volunteers. They have yearly full blood checks. A physical examination and a blood count is done prior to each donation to ensure that the blood they supply is safe to the recipient and that there is no detrimental effects to donors themselves.
We have so far not needed to increase our pricing since starting the service in November 2012. Sadly, we are no longer able to carry the ever increasing costs and have needed to update our prices. These are laid out below. The price increase will become effective 1 April 2015. Our blood products are unfortunately limited to dogs.
Our pricing structure varies on the urgency that you required blood. We have blood on hand for your use at a moment’s notice. However, since a number of these units expire in our fridge, blood for emergency immediate use is more expense. A more cost effective way is for you to pre-order the blood. You give us 4 days’ notice and we will ask our donorsto come in and donate specifically for you. This blood will have minimum shelf life of 4 weeks. Blood products can either be collect by yourself or we can arrange a courier drop off.
1 April 2015
Fresh
frozen plasma (225ml)
Packed red blood cells
Price (vat incl.) Expiry time
‡
Price (vat incl.) Expiry time
‡
No prior notice
–
for
immediate use
R 550 Min 1 months R 605 Min 5 days
4 business days prior
notice
R 385 Min 6 months R 430 Min 4 weeks
Delivery costs are per
delivery (irrespective
of the number of
units requested)
&
R 100 per delivery for
delivery destinations
in the Northern and
Southern suburbs*
R 145 per
delivery for other
delivery
destinations *
+
Emergency deliveries (within
a 2-3 hour period) during
office hours: R 300 (<30 km
from Bellville) OR R 445
(>30km from Bellville
+
)
Emergency deliveries
(within a 2-3 hour period)
after hours (18h00 –
08h00) and on public
holidays: R 635 (<30 km
from Bellville) OR R 785
(>30km from Bellville
+
)
‡ Expiry times are dependent on optimal storage conditions. Keep in mind that frozen plasma can be used for the protein / albumin benefits for up to 5 years.
* 3-8 hr turnaround time, in some outlying areas we may only be able to deliver the next day.
+ Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Strand, Gordon’s Bay, Kraaifontein; for other areas
please contact us.
& Courier prices are subject change without notice. All attempts will be made to confirm costs at the time of order.
Requesting a blood product:
During office hours please place any orders with the telephonist. After-hours and weekends please speak to the after-hours duty veterinarian at Tygerberg Animal Hospital, Bellville. The contact telephone number is: 021 919 1191 at all times.
Billing:
Products delivered to veterinary practices or collected by a veterinary practice employee will generate an invoice that is payable within 30 days. In the case of a client collecting a blood product, the full amount is due at collection.
Delivering of blood products:
There is a delivery cost applicable for any blood product that is delivered (see the table above). The turnaround time will vary – please see table above or contact us. Owners are we lcome to come and collect blood products at any time: day or night for use in their pet by their veterinarian. Please note that owners will need to pay for the blood / plasma at collection – this has the advantage of removing all the hassle for you with respect to invoicing.
There is obviously no cost involved for self-collection of blood products. Please note that when self-collecting blood products, the responsibility of maintaining the cold chain lies with the person collecting the product (i.e. you will need to bring your own cooler box and ice packs). Blood products that are couriered will be packaged so as to preserve the cold chain.
All queries can be directed to the blood bank sister: Annie Singh at 021 919 1191 or email:
bloodbank@tah.co.za
Kind regards
Frank Kettner
Tygerberg Animal Hospital
Tel: SA + 21 + 919 1191
e-mail:Â medicine@tah.co.za