Products can hang for up to four hours from the time they are issued from the lab.

The product can be infused for the full four hours even if it expires before then. Example: A unit is picked up at 7AM and expires at 8 AM. The product can hang until 11 AM as long as infusion begins before 8 AM. This is very useful for fresh frozen plasma, washed red cells and platelets, and other products that expire within hours of preparation.

For more information regarding administration, click here to view the Clinical Nursing Protocol for Blood and Blood Component Transfusion, section IV-E.