|
The Best Blood - Your Own
While special precautions and state-of-the-art testing have made blood transfusions safer than ever, transfusions of
your own blood (called Autologous donations) have advantages.
Autologous blood virtually eliminates the allergic reactions, chills and fevers that occasionally accompany transfusions
and ensures that an exact match will be available should you need blood during surgery.
How to "Deposit" your blood
If you are scheduled for elective surgery, ask your doctor whether Autologous donation is appropriate. Then obtain a
prescription from the doctor and bring it to one of our blood centers, where we will arrange for you to make pre-deposit
donations.
The exact schedule of donations will be determined by your medical condition and the number of units required. We will
collect your first donation of blood no more than 35 days before your surgery date for whole blood (42 days for red
blood cells) and allow a week or so between visits. The last unit must be collected at least fourteen days before
surgery to allow for testing, labeling and delivery to your hospital or outpatient surgery center. The fourteen day
interval is also required to enable your body to replace as much of the blood donated prior to surgery. In that way,
the blood we collect will truly be extra.
What happens to unused blood
If your doctor decides that you do not need all the blood you have donated, we will either freeze the unused blood (an
extra service which carries a special fee) or dispose of it safely. It simply is not practical for us to return the blood
to the community blood center for other patients' transfusions.
Why we charge a fee
It’s an economic necessity. Whether blood is donated for your use or someone else's, we perform the same collection,
testing, processing and storage steps and incur the same costs.
When Autologous donation isn't possible
There are circumstances - including massive trauma, emergencies and such medical conditions as infection and cardiac
problems - that make Autologous donation impossible. In addition, most hospitals do not allow the use of blood that
tests positive for infectious diseases in order to protect both their staff and other patients requiring transfusion.
|