Transfusion Medicine: An Overview and Update (Beckman Conference‪)‬

Most of the blood collected for transfusion in the United States is collected at community blood centers; approximately one-half of these centers are maintained by the American Red Cross, whereas the others are run by other nonprofit community agencies. The remainder of blood collections are performed at hospitals. Plasma derivatives are provided by commercial vendors using paid plasma donors, whereas the Red Cross provides plasma components from volunteer donations. Blood collections and usage declined in the mid-1980s (1). The AIDS epidemic made efforts to convince clinicians to use clinically appropriate indications more effective, and autologous blood collections rose substantially. In 1997, ~12 millions volunteer collections occurred in the United States (1). At the current time, collections and usage are rising, most likely as a result of more cancer and cardiovascular procedures being performed in our aging population.