Blood bag, transport and storage labels

Regional blood donation and haematology centres, blood banks and hospitals have a daily task to deliver blood to patients, which is donated on a voluntary basis, and is necessary both for transfusions during various medical procedures and for making blood products. Yet, to ensure that everything runs smoothly and, most importantly, safely for both blood donors and patients receiving blood, accurate and extremely durable labelling of blood bags is crucial.

By using modern computerised systems in conjunction with labels for the collection, preparation and storage of blood and blood products, collection facilities are able to minimise mislabelling errors leading to potentially disastrous consequences.

Types of labels used during blood collection, transport and storage:

• primary labels – applied directly to the blood bag,
• secondary labels – applied over primary labels.

Libeli labels comply with the most stringent requirements for blood bag labels.

ISBT code 128

Blood labelling code introduced in more than 50 countries worldwide. It imposes a labelling standard that must be adhered to in order to work with blood.

This type of label is divided into four squares, which convey information:

• Top left square – donation number barcode, proper donation number, date of collection, date of preparation and place of manufacture.
• Top right square – blood type contained in the bag and its assigned barcode.
• Bottom left – blood component barcode, component name, volume and additional notes.
• Bottom right – expiry date of the blood, its barcode, results of any additional tests performed.

Single labelling system ensures that the parameters of the blood in the bag can be read regardless of the language and computer system used.

ISEGA certification

This is a standard confirming that areas being in direct contact with the blood bag will not be contaminated by the adhesive from the labels. The labels offered by Libeli for blood bags and test tubes also comply with the requirements of this certificate, as the migration of the adhesive with which they are applied is considerably reduced and therefore its risk is negligible.

Freeze resistance

Cryogenic labels are products that are fully resistant to external factors and extremely low temperatures. They can withstand storage in liquid nitrogen as low as -196 degrees Celsius and storage in dry ice as low as -80 degrees Celsius. They are also characterised by extremely durable adhesion to various types of surfaces, such as glass and plastic. This also applies to curved surfaces such as vials or test tubes. The text on these types of labels remains clear and legible at all temperatures, even after prolonged storage of samples. In addition, cryogenic labels are used in laboratory centrifuges as the centrifugation process does not affect their strength or adhesion to the surface. They are also suitable for bonding at sub-zero temperatures.