The mission of the American Red Cross Biomedical Services:

... fulfill the needs of the American people for the safest, most reliable, most cost-effective blood and plasma services through voluntary donations.

Maintaining safety

Every blood donation goes through a thorough, multi-step process of quality control to safeguard the blood supply. Each donor goes through a mini-physical and health history interview before every donation to verify that the donor is eligible to give blood. Every collected unit of bloosd is thoroughly tested in a state-of-the-art Red Cross National Testing Laboratory before being released to a hospital. Units that are deemed unsafe are removed and disposed of properly. The American Red Cross and federal regulators agree the blood supply is safer today than it has ever been.

Who receives blood?

Each time you donate blood, you can help as many as three patients. Countless lives are touched every day with the help of blood products donated by volunteers in your community.

Those lives include people like Michael, who was injured in car accident and needed almost 300 units of blood products between emergency room care and follow-up surgeries. He is alive today to be a father and husband due to the help of dedicated medical professionals and many volunteer blood donors.

People like Jordan, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease as a newborn and has received regular transfusions all his life – about 85 units of blood products a year.

People like Charlene, who won her battle with cancer with the help of blood transfusions.

It's clear why blood donation is known as the gift of life.

If you are a blood product recipient and are interested in sharing your story, please contact the Central Ohio Region's Office of Communications.

Other services

PAS/Cell Saver Services: An operating room option

Perioperative Autologous Services is the process of collecting, washing and transfusing a patient's own blood lost during and after surgery. PAS/Cell Saver equipment and personnel assist surgical teams during procedures where a large blood loss may be expected. Total hip and knee replacement, prostatectomy, vascular, transplant and cardiac surgeries commonly use a cell saver during the procedure. As more physicians learn that the Red Cross offers this blood recovery option, PAS/Cell Saver procedures are reaching an all-time high in central Ohio and surrounding communities.

Therapeutic Apheresis

Why Is Therapeutic Apheresis Necessary?

Some diseases create substances which circulate throughout the body in the plasma portion of the blood.

In certain diseases these substances are called "autoantibodies" or antibodies which attack healthy cells or tissue. These autoantibodies are created by a mix-up in the body's immune system.

Other diseases cause an overproduction of protein, which results in slowing down the blood flow (in the same way that thick liquids move more slowly than thin ones).

A physician will decide if it is desirable to remove a large quantity of the autoantibodies or excess proteins so accompanying medical therapy is more effective in controlling the disease.

Only in a few diseases is it possible to remove the specific substance causing the disease. However, it is possible to remove the plasma, which contains the substance.

The plasma is replaced with donated fresh frozen plasma or, more commonly, physiologically acceptable replacement fluids, such as a mixture of albumin and normal saline.

What Actually Happens During A Therapeutic Apheresis Procedure?

Therapeutic aphersis is accomplished with a medical device called a blood cell separator. Blood cell separators use a centrifuge or a membrane filter to separate plasma from cellular blood components.

Qualified medical personnel operate the blood cell separator and monitor the condition of the patient at all times.

Blood is usually drawn from a patient's arm vein by a needle, which is attached to a blood tubing set. Anti-coagulant is added to the blood to keep it from clotting. The blood and anticoagulant enter the compartment of the blood cell separator where the plasma is separated from the cellular components and pumped into a collection bag. The cellular components are drawn from the compartment and a replacement fluid prescribed by the physician is added to replace the volume of plasma, which is removed. The mix of cellular components and replacement fluid is returned to the patient, usually through a needle in the other arm.

The latest technology blood cell separators accomplish all the above steps in an automated, continuous, and safe manner.

The sterile tubing sets and needles are used one time only and then discarded.