Blood Products

• you must be aged between 17 and 60 to donate blood - can donate up to the age of 70 for regular donors
• you must be fit and healthy and not have taken antibiotics within the last 7 days to donate blood
• you cannot donate blood if you have done so already within the last 12 weeks
• you cannot donate blood when pregnant or have a baby that is less than 6 months old
• you cannot donate blood if you have had hepatitis or jaundice within the last 12 months
• you cannot donate blood if you have undergone acupuncture, ear-piercing, body piercing or tattooing in the last 4 months
• you cannot donate blood if you have had a blood transfusion before the 1st of January 1980
• you cannot donate blood if you have a family member who has suffered from CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease)
• you cannot donate blood if you have been injected with HIV or hepatitis or are in a high-risk category of being infected with HIV or hepatitis (IV drug user, homosexual sex, etc)
• you cannot have had contact with an infectious disease or been given immunisation in the last 8 weeks to donate blood
• to donate blood you must have no previous malaria or visited any malarial area in the last 12 months
• you must weigh over 50KG (7st 12lb) to donate blood
• blood donation is as follows:

  1. 470ml of blood is removed from the transfer pack
  2. blood is filtered to remove white blood cells = leucodeplecion
  3. the pack contains 70ml of red cell additive solution (SAG-M) giving a total volume of 520ml
  4. blood is labelled with the donor number before being transferred to the local blood transfusion service centre for processing and testing
• pre donation the donor's haemoglobin level is measured to ensure that they do not suffer from anaemia
• post donation the blood is tested for:

  • blood group
  • HIV
  • Hepatitic B, C, and E virus
  • syphilis
  • Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)
• whole blood consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma. it is normally split into these components and many others
• using the attached satellite bags, whole blood can be separated into red cells, platelet-rich plasma, fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate
• plasma can be further subdivided into specific proteins (albumin) and immunoglobulins (anti-tetanus, anti-D and anti-hep B)
• red blood cells are stored in a fridge at 4'c and have a shelf life of 35 days
• platelets are stored on an agitator at 22'C and have a shelf life of 5 days
• plasma is stored in the freezer at -30'C and have a shelf life of 365 days
• plasma products can be either liquid or lyophilized and can be stored at either 4'C or 22'C, depending on the product - usually have a half-life of up to 2 years
• red blood cells are used to treat anaemia which cant be treated with medication and also used to replace red cells lost by haemorrhage
• platelets are used to treat patients with low platelet counts either due to decreased platelet production or patients undergoing chemo/radiotherapy for cancer/leukaemia
• fresh frozen plasma is used to treat patients with blood clotting problems and after large blood loss
• cryoprecipitate is rich in factor 8 and fibrinogens and used for large blood loss
• plasma products are used as blood volume expanders also to replace plasma proteins and immunoglobulins for immunisation
• whole blood bag is spun slowly to separate the plasma from the cells to create:

  • packed red blood cells (PRBC) - RBC without plasma
  • platelet rich plasma (PLP)
• whole blood bag spun hard the blood is separated into PRBC, FFP (fresh frozen plasma). FFP is then slowly thawed then hard spun again to separate into cryo-supernatant and cryoprecipitate