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Introduction

The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) places great importance on the health and safety of donors. To ensure the continued success of the global donor network, the WMDA requires its members to report and investigate any serious events or adverse reactions (S(P)EARs). The WMDA has been collecting this data since 2003 and has provided an online reporting tool for this purpose.

For help with the SPEAR online reporting tool, you can find answers to common questions in the user guide. If you have technical difficulties and cannot find a solution in the guide, you can ask a question using the question box at the bottom of the document or reach out to the WMDA office at sear-spear@wmda.info. You can access the SPEAR online reporting tool by clicking here.

Content of this guide 

This user guide is designed to assist new and existing users in navigating and utilizing the SPEAR reporting tool effectively. Its comprehensive coverage of all the features and functions of the platform will help you get the most out of SPEAR, making it easier for you create, submit and edit reports. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, this guide will provide you with a complete understanding of the SPEAR reporting tool, ensuring that you have the information you need to use it to its fullest potential.

List of content

1. Getting started

Important to remember 

• You can click the WMDA SPEAR reporting tool

To access the SPEAR reporting tool, simply type "https://spear.wmda.info" into your browser's address bar. To make it easier to get to the login page, you can save a bookmark in your browser.

If this is your first time accessing the SPEAR tool, you will need to create a password. Click on the "Forgot Password" button marked in red in figure 1. Fill out your email address (be careful, it's case-sensitive) on the password reset page in figure 2 and click the "Send Password Reset Email" button. You'll receive an email with a link to set a new password. Note that the password reset link will expire after 2 hours, so if you don't use it in time, you'll need to start the process again.

Setting and resetting your password

• logo on the top left of your screen to go back to the reports overview 
• If you have an incident that requires quick dissemination as a rapid alert in our community, please contact the WMDA office directly by sending an e-mail at sear-spear@wmda.info and by phone on: +31 (0)88 505 7900.
• Data submitted via the SPEAR reporting tool must be limited to only the data elements that are required for reporting. SPEAR reporters recognize the importance of protecting donor and patient privacy and will not share identifiable data to maintain the confidence and trust of donors, patients and regulators. 
  
• When using the tool, you agree to the WMDA Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

1. Getting started

Accessing the SPEAR reporting tool

To access the SPEAR reporting tool, simply type "https://spear.wmda.info" into your browser's address bar. To make it easier to get to the login page, you can save a bookmark in your browser.

If this is your first time accessing the SPEAR tool, you will need to create a password. Click on the "Forgot Password" button marked in red in figure 1. Fill out your email address (be careful, it's case-sensitive) on the password reset page in figure 2 and click the "Send Password Reset Email" button. You'll receive an email with a link to set a new password. Note that the password reset link will expire after 2 hours, so if you don't use it in time, you'll need to start the process again.

1.1 Setting (first time!) and resetting your password

• Step 1: Click on the 'Forgot Password' button on the SPEAR login screen (figure 1).
• Step 2: In the next screen, enter your e-mail address and click on the 'Send Reset Password Email' button.
  
  

• Step 3: Click on the link in the e-mail you received from the system. 

• Step 4: Choose a new password, confirm your new password and click on the reset password button.
• Step 5: Go back to the login screen and enter your e-mail address and your new password.

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caption Figure 1: SPEAR login panel
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1.2 Choosing roles

If you have multiple roles available to you (e.g. you are a SPEAR reporter and a SPEAR committee member or you are a SPEAR reporter for multiple organisations) then every time you login to the SPEAR reporting tool you have to select the role you initially want to access the tool with. 

• Step 1: Login to the SPEAR reporting with your username and password (see above). 
• Step 2: If you have multiple roles available to you, you will now see a "role selection" panel below the login fields (figure 2)
• Step 3: Click on the role you wish to log in with at this time and click select. You are now directed to the report overview available to that role.  

1.3 Choosing roles when already logged in

If you have multiple roles available to you,

• Step 3: Click on the link in the e-mail you received from the system. 

• Step 4: Choose a new password, confirm your new password and click on the reset password button.
• Step 5: Go back to the login screen and enter your e-mail address and your new password.

Switching roles

Every time you login to the SPEAR reporting tool, you select the role you initially want to access the tool with. If you have multiple roles available to you (e.g. you are a SPEAR reporter and a SPEAR committee member or you are a SPEAR reporter for multiple organisations), then you can easily switch roles without logging out.  The steps below explain how.

• Step 1: Login to the SPEAR reporting with your username and password (see above). Step 2: Click on the three dots next to your name on the top right side of the page (figure 2). A menu will appear that has the Switch Role option  At the top of the page, on the right, you find your personal menu (figure 3). Click on your name to expand it.
• Step 32: Click this Switch Role option (figure 34) and you will be redirected to a new page where you can select the roles available to you.
• Step 43: Select Confirm the selection of the role you want and click by clicking the Select button . To confirm the role switch, a message will appear (figure 5). You will be automatically re-directed to the report overview where a message appears: "Successfully switched role to XX at YY". You can now use the SPEAR reporting tool in the role you selected. Click on the SPEAR logo at the left top corner of the page to go to the dashboard overview.you selected. 

1.4 Logging off

To close and exit the application click on the three dots next to your name on your personal menu at the top right side of the page (figure 43). A menu will appear that has the Logout option (figure 56). After logging out of the system, you will be redirected to the login screen. 

2. Actions within the SPEAR reporting tool

The SPEAR reporting tool is used for three main goals: 1) as a platform for reporters to submit possible SPEAR cases, 2) as a tool for the SPEAR committee to assess and review reports that are submitted and 3) to provide a central current database of adverse events and reactions for data analysis and research purposes. This is why there are a variety of roles available within the platform. The role you have (selected) determines the amount of data and detail of data you can view via the tool and the actions you can carry outand/or edit.   

Drafting a report (reporter)

• Step 1: Login to the SPEAR online reporting tool with your username and password (see chapter 1). Don't have a username and password an account yet? Please see below at the FAQ: "How do I register as a SPEAR reporter?" 
• Step 2: Choose the role of reporter with the correct organisation when you login to draft reportscreate reports (see chapter 1.2) 
• Step 3: Click the Create new report button at the top of the page under Report list to start a new draft draft (figure 7). 

Step 4: Start your new draft report by entering the Type of report first. Once you've selected the correct type of report, the rest of

the form fields (or tabs) will

be filled with questions based on the type of report you selected. Depending on the type of report selected, fields are available or not and can be mandatory (or not). 

Adding an attachment to your report (reporters)

Adding an attachment to your report (reporters)

• Step 1: Open the report you want to attach the file to by 1) opening an existing report or 2) creating a new draft report. 
• Step 2: Go to the Finalisation tab (figure 8)
• Step 3: Locate the text "Upload any documents...." (figure 9)

• Step 4: Click the Upload files button to select the files to upload from your computer. You can select multiple files from the same folder at once by using CTRL + click or by dragging your cursor 

tab first
• Step 2: Go to the Finalisation tab
• Step 3: Scroll down to "Upload any documents.."

• Step 4: Click the paperclip icon to select the files to upload, you can select multiple files from the same folder at once by using CTRL + click or by dragging your cursor 

  Note

  title	File types and sizes

  Please note: only file with xlsx, .xls, .docx, .doc .pdf, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .tiff, .bmp, .txt extensions are accepted. Each file uploaded may not exceed 10mb. The maximum number of attachments may not exceed 5.

• Step 5: After selecting the files you wish to upload, you must check the checkbox (figure 10) underneath the file overview to state that you are not uploading any identifying personal information, such as names, dates of births or any other identifying information belonging to donors, patients or staff.
  
  

Submitting a report (reporters)

Once you've filled out all required information in the report tabs, you are ready to submit the report. The last tab, labeled "Submit", gives a summary of what you've entered. If anything is missing, it will say so. If you see "This question is mandatory," go back to the indicated tab and answer the question. Otherwise, you won't be able to submit the report. If the summary page doesn't show any missing information, scroll down and click "Submit report." Depending on your organization type and your role, the report will be sent directly to WMDA or to your parent organization first.

Receiving a report from an affiliated (child) organisation (reporters) 

If your organization has affiliated organizations, eg. a national donor registry with local transplant or collection centres, it could be that you receive reports from these organizations to submit to the WMDA on their behalf. If so, they are listed in a separate table on your dashboard. Please review the reports there in a timely manner. You can proceed to submit to the WMDA by opening the report in "view" mode and click the "submit to WMDA" button at the bottom of the page. 

Adding additional information to a report (reporters)

If you've submitted your report, it could be that the WMDA Medical advisor or SPEAR Committee has an additional question or a request for more details. Usually, this request follows within a few weeks after submitting the report to the WMDA. Sometimes it can be after a much longer time due to new discoveries or new similar cases being submitted. To add the requested information simply follow the steps below.

1. Click the Eye Icon to view the report OR
2. Click the Pencil Icon to make changes to the report. Click “Submit to WMDA” on the final tab to submit the report again to the WMDA.
3. To add comments, click the Text Bubble icon.

Providing updates to a report that has already been reviewed by the committee (reporters)

As long as a report has not been marked as "reviewed by committee", there is the possibility to add information via the SPEAR tool. You can click add comment or edit report to do so. If a report has already been reviewed, but you have crucial information to add, please email sear-spear@wmda.info to request to add the details to the report. 

Review process of the committee (committee member)

Download report overview (all users)

You can download an overview of all reports in the SPEAR system of your organisation. Two file formats are provided for download: .csv (Comma Separated Value) file and .json (Javascript Object Notation) file. For regular use, we recommend choosing the .csv file for download as it is easily converted to an Excel file. In case you want to use the SPEAR data for IT applications: JSON is supported by all the programming languages like Java, Net (C#), PHP, etc. 

JSON is a data exchange format that stands for JavaScript Object Notation with the extension .json. JSON is known as a light-weight data format type and is favored for its human readability and nesting features. It is often used in conjunction with APIs and data configuration.

CSV is a data storage format that stands for Comma Separated Values with the extension .csv. CSV files store data values (plain text) in a list format separated by commas. Notably, CSV files tend to be smaller in size and can be opened in text editors.

Please follow the steps below to download an overview of reports:

• Step 1: When you are logged in to the correct role in SPEAR, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Export reports button (figure 6)
• Step 2: In the pop up window, select if you want to download all reports or only the reports of a certain status (e.g. reviewed by committee) (figure 7). 
• Step 3: In the pop up window, select the file format you'd like to download (figure 7)
• Step 3: Click download. You will be sent back to the dashboard report overview where you can see the progress of the download. 

Converting a .CSV file to an .xslx (Excel) file:

• This two minute video explains how to open a .csv file in Microsoft Excel so you can use the data as a regular Excel file.

Print a report (all users)

When you click the View option to open a report and view its details, a button will appear at the top of the page: "Print report". 

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faq faq

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

GENERAL

USING THE SPEAR REPORTING TOOL

SPEAR REPORTING 101

CASE STUDIES

to be updated

Do you have questions on how to use the SPEAR reporting tool or do you want to report an issue? Please use the button below.