Blood transfusion is an important part of day‐to‐day clinical practice. Blood and blood products provide unique and life‐saving therapeutic benefits to patients. However, due to resource constraints, it is not always possible for the blood product to reach the patient at the right time.

The major concern from the point of view of both user (recipient) and prescriber (clinician) is for safe, effective and quality blood to be available when required. Standard practices should be in place to include appropriate testing, careful selection of donors, screening of donations, compatibility testing, storage of donations for clinical use, issue of blood units for either routine or emergency use, appropriate use of blood supplied or the return of units not needed after issue, and reports of transfusion reactions – all are major aspects where standard practices need to be implemented.

In order to implement guidelines for standard transfusion practices, a coordinated team effort by clinicians, blood transfusion experts, other laboratory personnel and health care providers Involved in the transfusion chain, is needed. Orientation of standard practices is vital in addressing these issues to improve the quality of blood transfusion services.

Bedside clinicians and medical interns are in the forefront of patient management. They are responsible for completing blood request forms, administering blood, monitoring transfusions and being vigilant for the signs and symptoms of adverse reactions. These guidelines are intended to enhance the implementation of standard clinical transfusion practices for improved patient safety. Blood transfusion saves lives and improves health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood. The need for blood transfusion may arise at any time in both urban and rural areas.