The estimated negative impacts on the red blood cell inventory of reducing shelf‐life at two large health authorities in British Columbia, Canada, using a discrete‐event simulation model

Background and Objectives Reducing the maximum red blood cell (RBC) shelf‐life is under consideration due to potential negative effects of older blood. An assessment of the impacts of this change on blood supply chain management is evaluated. Materials and Methods We performed a simulation study using data from 2017 to 2018 to estimate the outdate rate (ODR), STAT order and non‐group‐specific RBC transfusion at two Canadian health authorities (HAs). Results Shortening shelf‐life from 42 to 35 and 28 days led to the following: ODRs (in percentage) in both HAs increased from 0.52% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.50–0.54) to 1.32% (95% CI 1.26–1.38) and 5.47% (95% CI 5.34–5.60), respectively (p