Blood Bag Labels

First, ensure that the surface of the bag is clean and dry to allow the adhesives to function properly. Include all the essential information you need on the label to comply with regulations and depending on what specific blood products you’re handling. 

Affix the label to the designated area and ensure its stuck firmly and won’t peel off during handling and transportation. Most institutions will have some sort of logging process to record the labelling process for quality control purposes and to maintain traceability. 

Blood bag stickers, labels, and tags contain important identification information for safety and for efficient processing. These labels tell health professionals important information and usually show the blood type, donor information (either an ID or unit number), expiration date, lot number, collection date, and sometimes instructions for storage and delivery. Blood bag ribbons can be used to mark bags containing different blood types immediately for medical professionals. 

Labels and tags for blood products may also feature QR codes and barcodes for tracking and inventory management ease. 

Affix the label to the designated area and ensure its stuck firmly and won’t peel off during handling and transportation. Most institutions will have some sort of logging process to record the labelling process for quality control purposes and to maintain traceability. 

Blood bag labelling is one of the most important applications for barcoding as well as for any primary blood bag identification, such as matching blood products to patients, providing an audit trail and reducing errors.

Accurate labelling ensures easy blood bag tag identification and tracking of blood products through the supply chain, from collection to processing and transfusion. High-quality labels and proper labelling prevent incidents that lead to waste, and spoilage, and are integral for patient safety in procedures involving any blood transfusions. 

Labels and tags for blood products may also feature QR codes and barcodes for tracking and inventory management ease. 

Affix the label to the designated area and ensure its stuck firmly and won’t peel off during handling and transportation. Most institutions will have some sort of logging process to record the labelling process for quality control purposes and to maintain traceability. 

Blood bag labelling is one of the most important applications for barcoding as well as for any primary blood bag identification, such as matching blood products to patients, providing an audit trail and reducing errors.

Blood bag labelling happens in two stages and in the first stage, the bags are labelled during their manufacture. In the second stage, a new label is applied over the existing label from the bag’s manufacturer. This secondary labelling takes place after the bags have been filled with blood at blood centres or hospitals.

Labels and tags for blood products may also feature QR codes and barcodes for tracking and inventory management ease. 

Affix the label to the designated area and ensure its stuck firmly and won’t peel off during handling and transportation. Most institutions will have some sort of logging process to record the labelling process for quality control purposes and to maintain traceability. 

Blood bag labelling is one of the most important applications for barcoding as well as for any primary blood bag identification, such as matching blood products to patients, providing an audit trail and reducing errors.

Blood bags and their labels are manufactured to handle a wide range of conditions. Our labels are designed with high-quality permanent acrylic adhesives, which can handle the cold temperatures involved in freezing and transporting blood bags and blood products. They can also withstand moisture exposure and physical stress that would otherwise compromise their integrity.

Labels and tags for blood products may also feature QR codes and barcodes for tracking and inventory management ease. 

Affix the label to the designated area and ensure its stuck firmly and won’t peel off during handling and transportation. Most institutions will have some sort of logging process to record the labelling process for quality control purposes and to maintain traceability. 

Blood bag labels and tags should be retained for a period of time that depends on the individual institution’s policies around storage. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here, and it can depend on what purpose the stored blood is being used for. Blood bag labels can remain effective for over a year, but beyond two years there will often be a reduction in the adhesive’s performance.

There are regulatory bodies that control standards for blood bag labels, due to the pharmaceutical use that blood products are intended for. These regulatory bodies include the FDA Guidelines for Uniform Labelling of Blood and Blood Components (of which all our synthetic labels pass). There are also some International Standards Organizations (ISOs) and the JPAC guidelines which all blood ribbons, labels, and tags in the UK must comply with. Please contact us for further information on these standards and guidelines.

Blood labels cannot be recycled as there is a risk of contamination or misidentification that can compromise safety. Recycling blood tags that contain any patient information can be considered a breach of patient safety or data integrity. Proper disposal methods for blood labels should always be followed. The same is true for any labelling used in other blood products, such as blood plasma bag labels. 

Like most things in modern-day society, technology has had a transformative impact on blood labelling practices, which in turn has led to more effective labelling solutions. Technological impacts include automation, electronic systems, barcode scan technology, laboratory information systems (LIS) for primary blood bag identification, and data management. Modern blood bag stickers, labels, and tags will all interact and work with these systems.

Technology also greatly reduces errors from false identifications which match blood to the wrong patient, these systems are sometimes referred to as “blood bag positive identification.”

Extreme temperature labels (sometimes referred to as all temp labels) must withstand temperatures between –80°C to +56°C. This is due to how all blood-based products are stored and transported. These labels must be resistant to temperature change and cannot disintegrate or lose their adhesiveness due to temperature fluctuations. 

Blood products require very controlled conditions to be stored and used safely, and a big part of the safety around proper usage is adequate labelling. As such, these tags and labels are designed and manufactured with this purpose in mind.