So you’ve decided to donate blood.
What happens next?
WHO
Since 1938, blood has been collected and administered in Greater Cincinnati by Hoxworth Blood Center, University of Cincinnati. “We consider ourselves the stewards of the local blood supply,” said Alecia Lipton, community relations manager for Hoxworth.
WHERE
You can donate blood at any of Hoxworth’s eight Neighborhood Donor Centers: Anderson Township, Blue Ash, University of Cincinnati, Downtown, Fort Mitchell, Mason, Tri-County and Western Hills. Hoxworth also typically operates five mobile units on a given day. The mobile units are equipped for collection on the buses themselves, or in a conference room in an office setting, or a gym at a school.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare holds up to 35 blood drives a year throughout the community to help replenish blood supplies for Hoxworth and to ensure this valuable resource is available when patients need it. Click here to find an upcoming St. Elizabeth blood drive, or, when you sign in at a Hoxworth blood drive, mark “St. Elizabeth” as the GROUP you are supporting.
WHY
Hoxworth needs 300 units of whole blood daily to meet the needs of the 31 hospitals, including the St. Elizabeth Healthcare system, in the 17 counties it serves.
HOW
When you donate blood, a small amount is first taken in a “diversion pouch,” which also captures the tiny amount of skin from the insertion of the needle. This blood is also used for testing. The remainder, about a pint, goes into a collection bag.
If you donate at a blood drive, your blood will be transported from the site to Hoxworth headquarters, 3130 Highland Avenue, adjacent to University Hospital. Transporting blood “isn’t anything magical or mystical,” Lipton said. “We use your basic red Igloo coolers packed with dry ice.”
After blood gets to Hoxworth HQ, it is screened and tested. Since 1998, Hoxworth has outsourced testing to QualTex Laboratories, to detect or determine HIV, hepatitis B and C, Human T-Lymphotrophic virus, syphilis, Chagas Disease and West Nile virus. (What about Zika virus? See box.)
At Hoxworth’s Components Laboratory, which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, blood is then separated into different components: red blood cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate.
“That way the actual donation goes further to help more patients,” Lipton said. “A patient might not need red cells but plasma or platelets.”
Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to body tissues, are transfused to replace blood lost in surgery or trauma, and also to treat anemia resulting from chemotherapy, kidney failure or gastrointestinal bleeding.
Platelets, which help blood clot properly, can be processed from whole blood or collected through apheresis, in which blood is drawn, platelets are pulled out and blood is recirculated back to the donor.
Plasma, the liquid portion of blood, carries clotting factors, hormones, nutrients, electrolytes and antibodies. Cryoprecipitate is made from frozen plasma and used to treat von Willebrand disease, a genetic disorder involving the absence of a clotting factor, and to replace fibrinogen.
In the fiscal year ending 2014, Hoxworth said it processed more than 84,182 whole blood and red cell donations and 8,686 apheresis donor collections, turning that into more than 275,000 separate blood products.
HOW LONG
Hoxworth stores blood products in accordance with Red Cross guidelines. Red cells are stored in refrigerators for up to 42 days at 6 degrees Celsius. Platelets are stored in agitators at room temperature for up to five days. Plasma and cryoprecipitate are frozen and stored up to one year.
ZIKA VIRUS TESTING
Greg Boothe, associate director of Hoxworth Blood Center, said, “We are currently in the process of participating with Zika testing under FDA Investigation New Device protocol through our testing vendor (QualTex). QualTex is approved to perform testing under the Investigational New Drug Application (IND). Once Hoxworth is approved through the IND process, we will be able to begin testing our donors for exposure to the Zika virus through our vendor ” Implementation will be predicated on documented cases of mosquito transmission within the continental U.S. and in some cases, if the blood center’s service area is identified as an active transmission zone.”
