Red Cross Blood Services

Steps:
Step 1: The Donation
Donor registers
Health history and mini physical are completed
About 1 pint of blood and several small test tubes are collected from each donor
The bag, test tubes and the donor record are labeled with an identical bar code label to keep track of the donation
The donation is stored in iced coolers until it is transported to a Red Cross center
Step 2: Processing
Donated blood is scanned into a computer database
Most blood is spun in centrifuges to separate the transfusable components red cells, platelets, and plasma
The primary components like plasma, can be further manufactured into components such as cryoprecipitate
Red cells are then leuko-reduced
Single donor platelets are leukoreduced and bacterially tested.
Test tubes are sent for testing.

Step 3: Testing
Steps 2 and 3 take place in parallel
The test tubes are received in one of three Red Cross National Testing Laboratories
A dozen tests are performed on each unit of donated blood to establish the blood type and test for infectious diseases
Test results are transferred electronically to the manufacturing facility within 24 hours
If a test result is positive, the unit is discarded and the donor is notified. Test results are confidential and are only shared with the donor, except as may be required by law
Step 4: Storage
When test results are received, units suitable for transfusion are labeled and stored
Red Cells are stored in refrigerators at 6C for up to 42 days
Platelets are stored at room temperature in agitators for up to five days
Plasma and cryo are frozen and stored in freezers for up to one year
Step 5: Distribution
Blood is available to be shipped to hospitals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs
Facts
blood.
About Blood Needs
Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are
needed every day in the U.S.
Nearly 7,000 units of platelets and 10,000 units
of plasma are needed daily in the U.S.
Nearly 21 million blood components are
transfused each year in the U.S.
The average red blood cell transfusion is
approximately 3 pints.
The blood type most often requested by hospitals
is type O.
The blood used in an emergency is already on
the shelves before the event occurs.
It is estimated that sickle cell disease affects
90,000 to 100,000 people in the U.S. About
1,000 babies are born with the disease each
year. Sickle cell patients can require frequent
blood transfusions throughout their lives.
According to the American Cancer Society, more
than 1.69 million people are expected to be
diagnosed with cancer in 2017. Many of them
will need blood, sometimes daily, during their
chemotherapy treatment.
Facts about American Red
Cross Blood Services
The American Red Cross blood program started in 1940,
under the leadership of Dr. Charles Drew.
The Red Cross supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood
supply.
The Red Cross provides blood for patients in approximately
2,600 hospitals across the U.S.
The Red Cross makes blood available to any patient who
needs it patients are not required to find donors to replace
the blood they use (a practice common in Europe and some
U.S. blood banks) allowing the patient and their family to
focus on recovery.
Eighty percent of the blood donations given to the Red Cross
are collected at mobile blood drives set up at community
organizations, companies, high schools, colleges, places of
worship or military installations. The remaining 20 percent are
collected at Red Cross donation centers.
The Red Cross works with more than 58,000 blood drive
sponsors each year to hold more than 145,000 blood drives,
providing convenient locations for people to give blood.
 Some donors would have wait
anywhere between 45
minutes to 3 hours depending
on what they where donating

Due to the high amounts of people donating I was able to sit a talk
with many of the donors while the phlebotomist were busy. Some of
the donors had some very interesting backgrounds as the came from
different working classes: military veterans, artists, students,
engineers, nurses, doctors, various blue collar jobs, stay at home
moms and a stay at home dad.