Purpose Statement

The Whole Blood feature extends the Medications module to help Fire and EMS agencies manage the complete lifecycle of blood products—from initial configuration through inventory management, administration, auditing, and reporting.

Using existing Medications functionality, Whole Blood provides standardized workflows for receiving, storing, counting, administering, returning, replacing, and auditing Whole Blood and Packed Red Blood Cells while supporting agency-specific temperature requirements, inventory controls, Med Kit security settings, and signature workflows.

Background Information

Whole Blood builds upon the existing Medications module by introducing blood-specific inventory management and documentation workflows.

The feature supports:

• Whole Blood
• Packed Red Blood Cells
• Medication Forms
• Whole Blood Med Kits
• Blood Unit IDs
• Lot numbers
• Expiration dates
• Blood types
• Temperature monitoring
• Visual inspections
• Inventory counts
• Administration documentation
• Returns and replacements
• Multi-action workflows
• Blood Log auditing

Before operational workflows can begin, administrators should configure the required products, Medication Forms, Med Kits, permissions, signature requirements, temperature settings, vendors, and count schedules.

Blood Types

The Whole Blood feature supports documentation and inventory management for all standard ABO and Rh blood types.

Available blood types include:

• O- (Universal Donor)
• O+
• A+
• A-
• B+
• B-
• AB+ (Universal Recipient)
• AB-

Users select the appropriate blood type during applicable Whole Blood workflows, including receiving, documenting usage, returning inventory, and auditing blood events. Recording the correct blood type helps ensure accurate inventory tracking and supports operational documentation.

Required Permissions

Whole Blood permissions should be assigned based on each user's responsibilities. 

Whole Blood permissions are found in Admin > Roles & Permission > Medications in the Whole Blood group.

Available permissions include:

• Whole Blood - Count – Perform Whole Blood Med Kit counts.
• Whole Blood - In Service – Complete functions related to managing applicable Whole Blood Med Kits service status.
• Whole Blood - Manage Setup – Configure Whole Blood products, Medication Forms, Med Kits, count schedules, and related settings.
• Whole Blood - Read Log – View and audit Whole Blood events in the Blood Log.
• Whole Blood - Receive/Return – Receive new inventory and return existing inventory.
• Whole Blood - Usage – Document the administration of Whole Blood products.

Users participating in multi-action workflows may require multiple Whole Blood permissions.

Additional access to the Medications module and applicable Med Kits may also be required based on the agency's role configuration.

Core Components

Products

Administrators configure the blood products the agency intends to track, including:

• Whole Blood
• Packed Red Blood Cells

These products become available for Medication Forms and inventory workflows.

Medication Forms

Medication Forms define how blood products are documented and stocked within the system.

Medication Forms can include:

• Form
• Dose
• Dose Unit
• Volume
• Volume Unit
• Default Form
• Serial Number requirement

Whole Blood follows the agency's existing Medications signature configuration.

Whole Blood Med Kits

Whole Blood Med Kits represent the refrigerators, coolers, storage containers, or vehicle-based kits where blood inventory is stored.

Each Med Kit can be configured with:

• Medication Forms
• Med Kit Pouches
• PAR minimums
• Count schedules
• Lock or seal security
• Vehicle or storage assignments

Creating a Med Kit establishes the expected inventory configuration. Physical inventory is added later through the Receive workflow.

Temperature Configuration

Whole Blood supports configurable temperature monitoring in either Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Administrators define acceptable minimum and maximum temperature thresholds, which are referenced throughout Whole Blood workflows.

Signature Configuration

Whole Blood uses the existing Medications signature configuration.

Depending on agency policy, workflows may require:

• One to four signers
• Internal or outside-organization signers
• Password or PIN validation
• Prefilled or manual signatures

Count Schedules

Count schedules help agencies routinely verify Whole Blood inventory.

Authorized users can complete scheduled counts directly from the Dashboard or the applicable Whole Blood Med Kit.

Whole Blood Workflows

Configure Whole Blood

Administrators begin by configuring blood products, Medication Forms, Med Kits, temperature settings, signatures, and count schedules before inventory can be managed.

For complete instructions, see the article Configuring Whole Blood.

Create Whole Blood Med Kits

Whole Blood Med Kits establish where blood inventory is stored and define expected inventory, security settings, and count requirements.

For complete instructions, see the article Creating and Managing Whole Blood Med Kits.

Receive Inventory

Receive Events add Whole Blood or Packed Red Blood Cell inventory into a Whole Blood Med Kit while documenting shipment information, temperatures, inspections, and signatures.

For complete instructions, see the article Receiving Whole Blood Inventory.

Document Usage

Usage Events document the administration of Whole Blood products to patients while updating Med Kit inventory.

For complete instructions, see the article Documenting Whole Blood Usages.

Perform Counts

Whole Blood inventory can be verified through scheduled or manual counts. Count behavior varies depending on whether the Med Kit is configured with seals or locks.

For complete instructions, see the article Performing Whole Blood Med Kit Counts.

Return and Replace Inventory

Return workflows remove blood products from inventory. When replacement inventory is received during the same interaction, users can combine both actions into a single workflow.

For complete instructions, see the article Returning and Replacing Whole Blood Inventory.

Complete Multi-Action Workflows

Multiple Whole Blood actions can be combined into one workflow to reduce duplicate documentation and improve efficiency.

For complete instructions, see the article Whole Blood Multi-Action Workflows.

Review the Blood Log

The Blood Log provides a centralized audit history for Whole Blood activity. Authorized users can search, filter, review, and export events for operational review and compliance reporting.

For complete instructions, see the article Navigating and Auditing the Blood Log.

Recommended Implementation Sequence

For agencies implementing Whole Blood, the following order is recommended:

1. Enable the Whole Blood feature.
2. Assign Whole Blood permissions by role.
3. Configure temperature settings.
4. Create Whole Blood and Packed Red Blood Cell products.
5. Create Medication Forms.
6. Review signature requirements.
7. Create Whole Blood Med Kits.
8. Configure locks or seals.
9. Add Med Kit Pouches and expected inventory.
10. Configure PAR minimums.
11. Create count schedules.
12. Confirm suppliers are available in the Vendor Directory.
13. Receive initial inventory.
14. Train users on operational workflows.
15. Review the Blood Log to support auditing and ongoing inventory management.

Troubleshooting & FAQs

What is the Whole Blood feature?

Whole Blood extends the Medications module with workflows for configuring, receiving, storing, administering, counting, returning, replacing, and auditing Whole Blood inventory.

Is Whole Blood included with the Medications module?

No. Whole Blood is a paid product upgrade. Contact First Due Implementation or Customer Success to enable the feature for your agency.

What blood products can be tracked?

Whole Blood supports both Whole Blood and Packed Red Blood Cells.

Where should I begin after Whole Blood has been enabled?

Administrators should first complete the configuration process by creating products, Medication Forms, Med Kits, temperature settings, signatures, and count schedules before receiving inventory.