Blood centers across the country are seeing a renewed interest in whole blood transfusions. The main fuel to this fire appears to be the recent change from AABB and the forthcoming 31st edition of Standards for Blood Banks and Transfusion Services which allows for the use of low titer group O whole blood in emergent situations for recipients of unknown blood type (AABB News, 2017).
Read MoreEvery blood center knows that summer brings a significant drop in the number of donations. The problem is especially acute with platelets. Platelets have a very short shelf life (~5-7 days post collection, vs 35 days for red blood cells and 6 months for frozen plasma) Inventory is thus very tightly coupled with recent donor activity. Summer typically sees decreased donor visits as college students disperse and families spend more time traveling.
Read MoreDr. Beddard is Medical Director at South Texas Blood & Tissue Center.
"5 Questions with..." is a regular series of questions and answers with blood industry thought leaders. This installment looks at Acrodose, an FDA-approved whole blood derived alternative to apheresis Single Donor Platelets. Bloodbuy is not affiliated with Haemonetics, the provider of the Acrodose system, although Acrodose products are available on the Bloodbuy platform.
Read MoreDr. Clark is the Medical Director of Transfusion Medicine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
This is the first installment in what will be a regular series of questions and answers with blood industry thought leaders. This installment looks at Acrodose, an FDA-approved whole blood derived alternative to apheresis Single Donor Platelets.
Read MoreRadical change is coming to the hospital-blood center relationship. The cause will be a new guidance from the FDA requiring re-testing of platelets after 3 days of storage. The guidance is currently a draft, but industry insiders expect its release in final form this spring or summer.
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The blood industry has been shaken by a series of seismic shifts in recent years and the next shock is already cresting the horizon: Pathogen Reduction Technology (PRT) has the potential to transform how blood products reach patients. Other upsets have been sudden and jarring, such as 2016’s Zika epidemic and its nation-wide impact on blood availability. In the span of a single year, an emerging pathogen was identified as a threat to the blood supply, nucleic acid tests were developed, and a new guidance was adopted by the FDA.
Read MoreThe health of the United States depends on blood and tech. Blood and blood products play a key and irreplaceable role in medicine: 5 million people per year receive transfusions of red blood cells, clotting factors or plasma products. Traditionally, the technological aspects of blood has long focused on improving the safety, collection, and storage of blood.
Read MoreImagine if street lights shut off, taps ran dry, or the internet switched off every year during the holidays. The chaos caused by disruptions in utilities would be immense. That is just what happens, though, with the nation’s blood supply
Read MoreThe Big Data revolution is coming to the blood banking community. Other areas of health care have gradually embraced the transformative power of large-scale data collection and analysis. The impact of this change is difficult to predict, but will almost certainly include reductions in wasted units and improvements in distribution.
Read MoreFor all its brutal cost in human suffering, the unfolding zika epidemic has provided a rich source of learning materials for the nation’s blood supply. In one sense, it is profoundly reassuring to the speed with which US regulatory agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and individual members of the blood supplier community have worked together to address an unfolding crisis.
Read MoreBloodbuy’s online network facilitates the efficient distribution of lifesaving blood products.
