The lack of available blood can severely impact the level of care for patients, and limited blood supplies mean that hospitals risk being unprepared in the event of an emergency. But general preparedness is not the only problem; blood collectors must also ensure they have adequate inventories of the right blood types.

For many years, it has been possible to freeze blood and store it for up to 10 years for future use. These frozen blood supplies have typically been used to meet special patient needs, such as the demand for certain rare blood types, or by military organizations, whose frozen blood programs assist in combat readiness. Until recently, previously frozen blood had to be transfused to a patient within 24 hours of being thawed, and this short shelf life made it very difficult to manage frozen blood programs.

Haemonetics responded to the global need for emergency blood reserves by developing the ACP 215 automated cell processing system. The ACP 215 system extends the shelf life of thawed blood from 24 hours to 14 days. This extended shelf life greatly extends the value of frozen blood and has the potential to expand its use from rare blood reserves to emergency strategic reserves. Now, blood collectors can freeze excess blood collected during times of heavy donation and make it available for later use in multiple situations. In short, this process enables emergency blood supplies to be managed more strategically to complement normal blood inventories.

Solutions That Meet Our Customers' Needs

Automated Closed System

• Closed system
• Automated glycerolization and deglycerolization
• Small footprint

Integrated Process Control

• Better GMP compliance
• Makes quality control easy and cost effective
• Provides traceability reports

Extended Post-Thaw Storage

• Stores red cells in additive solution after thawing
• Makes frozen blood a desirable choice, especially for rare units
• Improves logistics

Inventory Management

• Rare blood type inventory
• Emergency source during seasonal shortages
• Autologous blood management

Click here for an ACP 215 product brochure (U.S.).