
RBCs are used to treat anemia without substantially increasing the patient’s blood volume. They can also be treated and frozen for 10 years or more. They have a shelf life of up to 42 days, depending on the type of anticoagulant used. Red blood cells are prepared from whole blood by removing the plasma (the liquid portion of the blood). Key Uses: Trauma, Surgery, Anemia, Any blood loss, Blood disorders, such as sickle cell.There are about one billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood. Produced in our bone marrow, they carry oxygen from our lungs to the rest of our bodies and take carbon dioxide back to our lungs to be exhaled. Red blood cells (RBCs), or erythrocytes, give blood its distinctive color. * Shelf life of whole blood varies based on the type anticoagulant used. Whole blood can be donated at any Red Cross blood drive or blood center. Whole blood is used to treat patients who need all the components of blood, such as those who have sustained significant blood loss due to trauma or surgery. If not needed right away, whole blood can be refrigerated for up to 35 days, depending on the type of anticoagulant used. It’s also the most flexible because it can be transfused in its original form, or used to help multiple people when separated into its specific components of red cells, plasma and platelets.Ī whole blood donation requires minimal processing before it is ready to be transfused into a patient. Whole Blood is the simplest, most common type of blood donation. Whole blood contains red cells, white cells, and platelets (~45% of volume) suspended in blood plasma (~55% of volume).
