Obviously, safety is a huge concern when it comes to blood. We understand that better than anyone. Thanks to advanced testing methods and stringent safety requirements, the U.S. blood supply is safer today than ever before. Advanced testing methods have greatly reduced the risk of transmitting infectious diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all blood banks to use standard safety procedures and rigorously monitors compliance.

Routine Safeguards

• Blood donation is voluntary – donors are not paid.
• Donor information is confidential.
• Health screening is conducted for all donors.
• Physical guidelines must be met.
• Donors with health risks are deferred.
• Donation procedure calls for single-use, sterile supplies.
• Extensive blood testing for infectious diseases is performed on every pint of donated blood.
• Any unit of blood that fails to meet safety standards is properly disposed.
• Donors who test positive for infectious diseases are deferred from donating.

Testing

On each donated unit of blood, Michigan Blood performs twelve laboratory tests to screen for the following factors and diseases. Blood that does not pass these tests is properly disposed:

• ABO/Rh blood type
• Red blood cell antibodies
• Syphilis
• Hepatitis B (HBV) – three separate tests
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS – two separate tests
• Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV)
• Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) – two separate tests
• West Nile Virus (WNV)