The American Red Cross has collection centers all over the country, with thousands of regular donors who give away their blood by the gallon. Clearly, blood transfusions are not performed at anywhere near high enough of a frequency for all of this blood to be used. Where does it all go?
When people undergo an operation that might require a blood transfusion, one would assume that the patient would be informed of this possibility and would opt to donate his or her own blood in advance. Therefore, one would think that most of the blood transfusions that actually use donor blood are performed in emergency situations. But there couldn’t possibly be enough of these emergencies to merit the amount of blood the Red Cross collects. What happens to the excess? Incineration??
Taken apart. The blood plasma and platelets get removed for further use and storage. Whole blood is used less frequently. CuriousCanuck may drop by and give a Canadian Blood Services view which will likely be more informed than mine.
I question some of your assumptions. While it is possible to donate your own blood in advance of need, I seriously doubt many people take advantage of this. They also may be in no shape to donate that much blood if they are already compromised by illness. And why do you think that there aren’t a lot of emergencies requiring blood? A cite of some sort would be nice.
Every summer there are repeated calls for blood donations as the blood bank levels drop. Clearly, stocks occasionally are lower than the desired level. Plus, I’m sure that it is good to have more than is generally needed in case of a serious emergency.
The vast majority of surgery patients use blood from the blood banks, (which are, BTW NOT all run by ARC). Almost ALL surgeries use blood – one out of ten patients enetering a hosp[ital for any reason needs blood (or platelets,or plasma, or …). There is not anywhere near enough blood donated in this country to guarantee an adequate supply for emergencies – special blood drives are often required for large-scale emergencies. Approximately 32,000 pints of blood are used each day in the United States.
A heart surgery uses an average of six pints of red blood cells and six pints of platelets; the average liver transplant patient needs 40 pints of red blood cells, 30 pints of platelets, 20 bags of cryoprecipitate, and 25 pints of fresh frozen plasma; the average bone marrow transplant requires 120 pints of platelets and about 20 pints of red blood cells.
Yes, some blood is destroyed unused – it only keeps for 42 days; while blood-freezing technology exists, facilities are not available for processing all of the blood used. Expired blood and blood products can be diverted to research, incinerated, or autoclaved and sent to landfill (unless that’s not legal – some of my sources are old). Some non-cell-containing blood products can be autoclaved and oured down the sink (to a “clinical” or “sanitary” system).
How much blood do certain procedures require?
Coronary Artery Bypass: 1-5 units
Fractured Hip/joint Replacement 2-5 units
Cardiovascular Surgery 2-25 units
Bleeding Ulcer 3-30 units
Brain Surgery 4-10 units
Auto Accient / Gunshot wound – up to 50 units
Liver transplant – up to 100 units
Other ogran transplants – up to 10 units
Bone Marrow Tansplant – up to 2 units per day
Sickle Cell – up to 4 units a month
Cancer – up to 8 units a week
Red blood cells helps accident victims, surgical patients and people with anaemia
Platelets used to treat leukemia and cancer patients
Plasma treats patients suffering from burns or shock
Cryoprecipitate, an additional component of blood, can be used to treat hemophilia and now other blood disorders
2) Shelf life:
Ten years for source plasma
One year for fresh frozen plasma
Forty-two days for red blood cells
Thirty-five days for whole blood
Five days for platelets
Blood not used is destroyed, however the need for blood is rising, and we are currently campaigning to get new donors and more repeat donors to overcome an estimated shortfall of 160,000 units by 2005.
In the hospitals I’ve worked at very few people do the autologous donation before surgery. All of the blood used in my current place of employment is collected by a local, private blood center. Which often runs short and ends up by buying excess units from the ARC or whomever happens to have a surplus. Units of packed cells that are going to outdate are offered to all the local hospitals to see if they can be used. If not, they can be washed and frozen as part of the emergency supply. The center also keeps a stock of frozen units of rare types, just in case.
Any units that outdate on our blood bank’s shelf are shipped back to the center. Occasionally a few are used by researchers at the university.
I can also say that most blood bankers go to great length to make sure as few units as possible are wasted. We all appreciate the time and effort that goes into donation. It’s a valuable product.
), here are some quick facts from our website: