Study of the implementation status of archival records in Iranian Blood Transfusion Centers

  Long-term preservation of the records requires a standard archive space. The purpose of this study is to examine the recent implementation of archival records in Iranian blood transfusion centers (BTCs) and to define effective corrective actions to improve current conditions.

In this descriptive cross-sectional observational study, a questionnaire consisting of 60 questions in four areas of infrastructure design, environmental control, archiving and health and safety was developed and was sent to 31 BTCs within the time frame from February to March 2017. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics (average and percentages) and SPSS 17.

The average frequency of positive responses in accordance with the requirements and standards was 73.13%. The monitoring of archive room temperature was carried out in 90.47% of BTCs. Nearly 73% of BTCs responded positively to compliance with relative humidity and ventilation control requirements. The average frequency of positive response of BTCs to establish the requirements of archival process was about 72.72%. Establishment of health and safety related parameters had the highest score among the four subjects (83.36%).

Despite the good state of implementation of requirements in the archive rooms for the infrastructure and health and safety, there are challenges in the field of temperature control and the archival process and document traceability, which resulted in effective corrective actions such as preparing the guideline for design requirements and archiving, defining the temperature and humidity limits and training BTCs to establish the necessary standards.