Today’s blood donation process is a model of safety and security, from donor screening to storing in a blood bank refrigerator, every step is designed to ensure the sterility of the collection.  A 1967 paper provides an example of the motivation for all that work.  The paper describes the case of a woman who lost Read More

Okay, so we’re not absolutely certain what value is brought to this video by making it three-dimensional—nobody’s throwing baseballs out of the screen or falling down a cliff—but it is full of all the factoids you could ever want about blood donation. Did you know the first blood bank was established in the UK in Read More

“[People] cannot eliminate the errors simply by telling themselves to do better and deciding not to commit them.”  Perhaps not a surprising statement, but one whose implications can be pretty far-reaching.  The statement comes from a document entitled “Mistake-Proofing the Design of Health Care Processes.”  The logical argument is that if you’re in an environment Read More

You just don’t want your blood transfusion messed up.  You want the blood or blood product you get to be the one you need.  It would also be great if it was still viable and uncontaminated.  Of course you can be confident that your blood transfusion will meet the highest standards; but that doesn’t happen Read More

If you’re involved in medical diagnostic work, you should study the CDC’s Guidelines for Safe Work Practices, which summarizes the recommendations of a blue ribbon biosafety committee.  The document presents sample handling procedures, personal protective equipment recommendations, and cleaning protocols.  It contains both general recommendations and guidelines for specific facilities.  For example, if you’ve got Read More

Blood is needed for treating patients who have suffered trauma or are undergoing surgery.  But, even when stored in a blood bank refrigerator, units of donated blood have a limited shelf life.  The longer that shelf life, the better the chances are that blood will be available when it’s needed.  But the shelf life is Read More

Blood bank refrigerators and equipment to keep them running are critical elements to establishing a safe emergency blood supply.  That’s why volunteers with the BloodSource project in Northern California and the Carmel Valley Rotary Club brought that equipment to Nigeria—a country that currently only meets 2 percent of its blood needs.  After bringing the supplies, Read More

There are lots of ideas for improving technology, but it takes a lot of money to convert an idea to a development.  Even the ideas that do get developed face an uncertain future.  To make sure technology investment pays off, a market analysis is a good idea. That’s the motivation behind Batelle’s report on markets Read More