Blood storage?

[louis]

Hi,

About to donate blood for the third time. :lol: I am just a little curious as to what happens to all the blood after a blood donation drive? Is it treated/stored somewhere before giving it to the patient? Also, how long can blood be stored for?

[Shan Xue]

Hi Louis,

after the donation, the whole blood will be separated into components.


Within six hours after a unit of blood is donated, it can be processed into blood products to treat a variety of medical conditions.

Whole Blood
Whole blood is used to restore blood volume whenever large amounts of blood have been lost eg. as a result of accidents, injury or during surgery and childbirth.

Red Blood Cells
Red cells carry vital oxygen through the body. It is used by patients who suffer a loss of blood due to trauma, surgery.

Plasma
Plasma is used mainly in emergency treatment of shock or in cases of severe burns.

Platelets
Platelets play an essential part in blood clotting, for instance, to treat patients with severe haemorrhage or leukaemia. Often one patient will need platelets from 10 donors or more, in a short time. These cells have a life span of only 5 days. Hence, the blood bank stock need to be constantly renewed.

Cryoprecipitate
Cryoprecipitate contains the clotting substance which is absent in patients who suffer from haemophilia.

http://www.hsa.gov.sg/html/consumer/ctm_how_blood_saves_lives.html

Product shelf life

Packed red cells - 42 days
Platelets - 5 days
Fresh Frozen Plasma - 1 year
Frozen red cells - 10 years

it is costly to freeze the blood components to lengthen the shelf life. it is mostly done for emergency stock.

perhaps those working in the blood bank can provide more details :wink: [/quote]