Blood Transfusion and Donation (Print Version)

Every year, nearly 5 million people in the United States receive life-saving blood transfusions. During a transfusion, you receive whole blood or parts of blood such as

Red blood cells - cells that carry oxygen to and from tissues and organs
Platelets - cells can be used to control bleeding
Plasma - liquid part of the blood that helps blood clot

Some people worry about getting sick from giving or receiving blood. It is possible, but is very rare. The Food and Drug Administration and other organizations that collect blood make sure that blood is safe. Every single donation is tested for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, syphilis and several other diseases that can be transmitted through blood. Some people who know they may need blood during surgery donate their own ahead of time. That is the safest type of transfusion.

Start Here

Blood Transfusion(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/bt/bt_whatis.html
Blood Transfusions(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/medical_care/transfusions.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/teen/en_espanol/cuerpo/transfusions_esp.html
What to Expect When Donating Blood(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_553_,00.html

Overviews

Blood Donation: What to Expect(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/blood-donation/GA00039/METHOD=print
Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood Stem Cell (PBSC) Donation Frequently Asked Questions(National Marrow Donor Program) - http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/When_You_re_Asked_to_Donate_fo/Donation_FAQs/index.html
JAMA Patient Page: Blood Donation(American Medical Association) - Links to PDF - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/299/19/2350.pdf
JAMA Patient Page: Blood Transfusion(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/292/13/1646.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/292/13/1646/DC1/1

Prevention/Screening

Blood Donation Eligibility Guidelines(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_557_,00.html
Blood Frequently Asked Questions: Person's Suitability to Donate Blood(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cber/faq/bldfaq.htm

Related Issues

Alternatives to Blood Transfusion(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_Alternatives_To_Blood_Transfusion.asp?sitearea=ETO
Apheresis(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_554_,00.html
Blood Component Transfusion - What It Involves(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_Blood_Transfusion.asp?sitearea=ETO
Blood Donation by Cancer Survivors(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4x_Donation_by_Cancer_Survivors.asp?sitearea=ETO
Blood Transfusion: Safer Than Ever(InteliHealth, Harvard Medical School) - http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/8776/22007/351893.html?d=dmtContent
Blood Transfusions - Knowing Your Options(America's Blood Centers) - http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=247
Bone Marrow Donation: What to Expect When You Donate(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/bone-marrow/CA00047/METHOD=print
Chagas Disease and Blood Screening(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/chagas/factsheet_screen.html
Facts about Blood(American Association of Blood Banks) - http://www.aabb.org/Content/About_Blood/Facts_About_Blood_and_Blood_Banking/
Have You Given Blood Lately?(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/blooddonations100407.html
Patient's Guide to Blood Management Options(Society for the Advancement of Blood Management) - Links to PDF - http://www.sabm.org/professionals/patientbrochure07.pdf
Possible Risks of Blood Product Transfusions(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4x_Possible_Risks_of_Blood_Product_Transfusions.asp?sitearea=ETO
Tips for a Good Blood Donation(American Red Cross) - http://www1.givebloodgivelife.org/donors/tips/
Types of Blood Donations(American Red Cross) - http://www1.givebloodgivelife.org/donors/types/
Universal Blood Donor Type: Is There Such a Thing?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/universal-blood-donor-type/HQ00949/METHOD=print
West Nile Virus: Blood Transfusion, Organ Donation and Blood Donation Screening Information(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/transfusion.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/spanish/wnv_transfusion_spanish.htm
Why Cancer Patients Might Need Blood Product Transfusions(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4x_Why_Cancer_Patients_Might_Need_Blood_Product_Transfusions.asp?sitearea=ETO

Health Check Tools

What's Your Blood IQ?(American Red Cross) - http://www.givelife2.org/games/bloodiq.asp

Anatomy/Physiology

Blood and Its Components(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_Blood_And_Its_Components.asp?sitearea=ETO
What Is Blood?(America's Blood Centers, American Association of Blood Banks) - http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=11

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Blood Donors(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Blood+Donors%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Blood Substitutes and Alternatives(National Institutes of Health) - http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/search/term=biopure+OR+polyheme+OR+oxycyte+OR+hemolink+OR+stanate
ClinicalTrials.gov: Blood Transfusion(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=blood+transfusion

Research

Transfusion Safety(National Institutes of Health) - Links to PDF - http://www.nih.gov/about/researchresultsforthepublic/Transfusion.pdf

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Increased plasma and platelet to red blood cell ratios improves... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18791365&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: A prospective randomized trial of acute normovolemic hemodilution compared to... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18791356&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Change in use of allogeneic red blood cell transfusions among... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18722940&tool=MedlinePlus
Blood Transfusion and Donation -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(blood+transfusion[majr]+NOT+blood+transfusion,intrauterine[mh])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Blood types -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(blood+group+antigens[majr]+NOT+blood+transfusion[majr])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Medical Encyclopedia

transfusion - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=transfusion

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Blood Donation Glossary(America's Blood Centers) - http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=333

Directories

Blood Bank Locator(American Association of Blood Banks) - http://www.aabb.org/Content/Donate_Blood/Where_to_Donate/BloodBankLocatorMap?transaction=search&template=map_search
Blood Management Program Database(Society for the Advancement of Blood Management) - http://www.sabm.org/hospitals/

Organizations

America's Blood Centers - http://www.americasblood.org/
American Association of Blood Banks - http://www.aabb.org/
American Red Cross - http://www.redcross.org/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cruzrojaamericana.org/
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Statistics

56 Facts about Blood(America's Blood Centers) - http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=12

Children

Truth about Transfusions(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/feel_better/things/transfusions.html

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Blood and Blood Disorders - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodandblooddisorders.html
Organ Donation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/organdonation.html
Stem Cells - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stemcells.html
Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
Transplantation and Donation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/transplantationanddonation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Blood Transfusion and Donation is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Blood Transfusion and Donation - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/bloodtransfusionanddonation.html