Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Voga bomb here. This episode talks about blood donation.
Speaker 1: So if that's the kind of thing that makes you woozy,
Speaker 1: go on and skip it. Okay, Every two seconds in
Speaker 1: the United States, someone somewhere needs a blood transfusion. And
Speaker 1: let's face it, many of us don't consider giving blood
Speaker 1: until there's a major disaster where donations are needed. But
Speaker 1: just one donation has the potential to save up to
Speaker 1: three lives on average. When you donate blood, you provide
Speaker 1: about one pint. That's about half a leader of whole blood,
Speaker 1: which is called a unit of blood, and for reference,
Speaker 1: that's about sixteen ounces, or the size of a large coffee.
Speaker 1: But in the U s alone, there is a need
Speaker 1: for almost thirty six thousand units of blood every day,
Speaker 1: so it's excellent for those who can donate to do so.
Speaker 1: But have you ever wondered what actually happens after your
Speaker 1: blood is drawn for a donation? Where does it go
Speaker 1: and how is the process tracked for safety and security?
Speaker 1: We'll break it down. Step one is collection. When you
Speaker 1: donate blood, it's collected in a special bag and likely
Speaker 1: a few test tubes that were developed with an antiquagulant
Speaker 1: to prevent the blood from clotting. Each bag and test
Speaker 1: tube is assigned the same unique I D number to
Speaker 1: ensure that the collected blood can be properly tracked and
Speaker 1: eventually labeled. Then the blood is placed on ice before
Speaker 1: it's sent to the lab for testing. Next, the bags
Speaker 1: and test tubes of blood are packaged in boxes specially
Speaker 1: made to keep blood at the right temperature until it
Speaker 1: can reach laboratories for step two processing, the test tube
Speaker 1: samples are sent off to the lab for testing to
Speaker 1: be sure the blood is safe and to determine the
Speaker 1: blood type. In the US, the FDA regulates blood testing
Speaker 1: collection and blood components through its Center for Biologics, Evaluation
Speaker 1: and Research. While that blood is being tested, a blood
Speaker 1: processing center verifies the receipt of the whole blood, sort
Speaker 1: of like tracking a package from post office through delivery.
Speaker 1: The blood's ideas checked in at every step of the way. Next,
Speaker 1: the units of whole blood are separated into specific components.
Speaker 1: This separation process, which is called component therapy, is accomplished
Speaker 1: by spinning the blood in a centrifuge. The heavy red
Speaker 1: cells fall to the bottom and the blood is divided
Speaker 1: into transfusible components red cells, platelets, and plasma. The plasma
Speaker 1: might even be processed further. For instance, plasma can be
Speaker 1: separated into cryo precipitate called cryo for short, which helps
Speaker 1: control the risk of bleeding by helping blood to clot.
Speaker 1: The red blood cells, plasma, and platelets are then heat
Speaker 1: sealed in bags to ensure they remain sterile, and the
Speaker 1: components are stored while they wait for their test results.
Speaker 1: Plasma and cryo contain proteins that are pretty stable, so
Speaker 1: they can be frozen for up to a year at
Speaker 1: negative twenty seven degrees fahrenheit that's negative thirty three celsius.
Speaker 1: Red cells are more delicate and have to be refrigerated,
Speaker 1: but can be kept for up to forty two days
Speaker 1: as long as they're held at forty two degrees fahrenheit
Speaker 1: that's six degrees celsius. Platelets must be used within five
Speaker 1: days and are stored at room temper sure in agitators
Speaker 1: that rock them back and forth until they are transfused
Speaker 1: into a patient. Through all of this, the blood processing
Speaker 1: center is still tracking the donation, including manufacturing data. What
Speaker 1: centrifuge was used to separate the blood and what time
Speaker 1: the work was performed. Once they get an okay on
Speaker 1: the blood tests from the lab, the components are ready
Speaker 1: to be deployed. They print labels with information including the
Speaker 1: blood type and expiration dates, which they then affixed to
Speaker 1: the bags. If the blood is deemed unsafe during the testing,
Speaker 1: it's tagged with a discard label to complete the tracking cycle.
Speaker 1: When a hospital or treatment center places in order for
Speaker 1: blooder plasma, the components are shipped off in temperature safe boxes.
Speaker 1: When they arrive, the medical staff double checks them for safety,
Speaker 1: and finally they're ready to be transfused into the patient
Speaker 1: who needs them. The entire donation to shipping process can
Speaker 1: take up to three days, which doesn't seem like a
Speaker 1: long time until there's a major disaster or blood shortage.
Speaker 1: The American Red Cross says blood supply usually keep up
Speaker 1: with demand because only about three percent of PEP eligible
Speaker 1: to donate actually do. That's why it's such a boon
Speaker 1: to donate if you can, especially if you're a universal
Speaker 1: donor with type O negative blood. This can be transfused
Speaker 1: into any patient with any blood type. The American Red
Speaker 1: Cross estimates at about people in the us have Type
Speaker 1: O blood, but the overwhelming majority of those people are
Speaker 1: OH positive, which is lucky for them because it means
Speaker 1: that donated components are more likely to match their common type,
Speaker 1: but it also means that just seven percent of people
Speaker 1: are Type O negative that universal donor. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Shelley Dancy and produced by Tyler Clang for
Speaker 1: iHeart Media and How Stuff Works. For more on this
Speaker 1: and lots of other topics, visit our home planet, how
Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com