If you or a family member needs a blood transfusion, it's comforting to know the level of accuracy, commitment and experience of our Memorial Health System Blood Transfusion team.

Our blood supply is safer than it's ever been before, thanks to the commitment and dedication of this team, precise testing equipment and new safeguards such as additional testing and detailed screening questionnaires that screen out donors who might be at increased risk.

Who Needs Blood?

Nearly every single hour of every day, our patients are transfused with life-giving blood. Patients in the hospital and outpatients who need blood include:

• Critically ill patients of all ages, including newborn babies and children.
• Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy who need blood transfusions. Chemotherapy interferes with the body's ability to produce white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.
• Patients undergoing major surgeries such as open heart surgery.
• Trauma patients who are brought to the Emergency Room and require surgery.

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Going Above and Beyond: Earning Additional Accreditations Ensures an Extremely Safe Blood Transfusion Supply

Our Blood Transfusion Laboratory, which includes the Blood Bank, is accredited with the College of American Pathologists and registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to federal law.

In addition, our Blood Transfusion Laboratory at Memorial is accredited with the American Association of Blood Banks, which sets extremely stringent standards. Enrollment with this organization is on a volunteer basis. Our health system has gone above and beyond other blood banks to meet this agency's strict requirements to offer a blood supply that’s extremely safe and reliable for our community.

These agencies' inspectors have a penchant for popping in for unannounced inspections any time of the year. Their surprise visits may last days or weeks as they rigorously test equipment to ensure the highest degree of accuracy, check technologists' competency to ensure they're properly trained and verify that team members follow procedures exactly. With these agencies’ inspections, guidelines and recommendations, our Blood Transfusion Laboratory maintains an extremely high level of quality assurance.

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What Do You Do If You Need a Blood Transfusion?

If your physician or surgeon decides that you need a blood transfusion, you’ll walk through this simple process:

• A medical technologist draws a blood sample from you to find compatible blood. You then wear a special identification arm band.
• A medical technologist tests your blood to determine the type, takes a sample from a unit of donated blood and performs tests as necessary to ensure the donated blood is compatible.
• This process usually takes about one to two hours. Blood transfusions that aren’t part of surgery are administered by a nurse.

Your blood transfusion is safe in the hands of our highly experienced medical technologists. Every technologist, at a minimum, has four years of college, one year of hospital internship and is certificated through the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Our technologists staff the laboratory 24 hours, seven days a week. Tallied together, our team offers more than 300 years of direct blood transfusion experience. A pathologist (a medical doctor specializing in this area) oversees the Blood Transfusion Laboratory, including the blood bank.

» More about:  American Society of Clinical Pathologists

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"We Are Committed to Accuracy. In Fact, It’s Our Passion."

Our Memorial Blood Transfusion team members always focus on accuracy and precision. Errors simply are not acceptable, because an error could jeopardize a patient's health. "We also enjoy having a personal connection with donors and patients who need transfusions," says Janet Weiger, blood bank supervisor. "We never lose sight of the fact that every tube of blood represents a person who needs our help."

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