There's a new discussion group on LinkedIn that I am inviting you to join. It's the Blood Components group, an open group for blood bankers and anyone interested in blood components, to join, comment, discuss, and share. The supporting blog called (rather unsurprisingly) Blood Components, can also be visited and supporting documentation etc will be hosted there.
Welcome one and all!
Two other posts on my personal blog (Challenge) that you might find interesting are:
Blood in Times of Scarcity http://bit.ly/SlxPnY Discusses various techniques for getting around blood shortages and some tricky situations when blood may be in demand but not available. It was prompted by the Pakistan platelet crisis but also discusses a wide range of common blood crisis scenarios.
Platelets in Developing Countries http://bit.ly/Slyfur Was a post I did at the time of the last (2011) dengue crisis in Pakistan and has general thoughts on how to (and how not to) deal with a sudden demand for platelets.
Most voluntary blood donors just go out and donate their blood, assuming that it will reach a needy patient. In the developed world, mostly your blood will then go on to save 3 or more lives, because your blood will be routinely processed into its component parts, red blood cells, platelets, and plasma, and each of these is needed to save the lives of those who are short of that particular component.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the developing world, because of cost and infrastructure shortages, blood donated as whole blood often gets issued to patients as whole blood, and that's both bad for the patients and terribly wasteful. The blood components initiative tries to tackle these issues, increasing awareness, and tackling any technical issues that may arise. Join us!
