blood bank, site or mobile unit for collecting, processing, typing, and storing whole blood blood, fluid pumped by the heart that circulates throughout the body via the arteries, veins, and capillaries (see circulatory system ; heart ). An adult male of average size normally has about 6 quarts (5.6 liters) of blood.
..... Click the link for more information. , blood plasma and other blood constituents. Most hospitals maintain their own blood reserves, and the American Red Cross provides a nationwide collection and distribution service. The Red Cross collects about 50% of the blood for the nation's blood banks. The Food and Drug Administration Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agency of the Public Health Service division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with protecting public health by ensuring that foods are safe and pure, cosmetics and other chemical substances
..... Click the link for more information. licenses blood banks.

Whole blood may be preserved for up to 21 days without losing its usefulness in blood transfusions; an anticoagulant is added to prevent clotting. Blood plasma, the fluid portion of the blood, may be frozen and/or dried and stored indefinitely. Blood and donors are screened for hepatitis Hepatitis A, also called infectious hepatitis, occurs sporadically or in epidemics, the virus being present in feces and transmittable via contaminated food (e.g., food prepared by an infected person with unwashed hands or fresh food washed or grown with contaminated water) or
..... Click the link for more information. , AIDS AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, fatal disease caused by a rapidly mutating retrovirus that attacks the immune system and leaves the victim vulnerable to infections, malignancies, and neurological disorders.
..... Click the link for more information. , malaria malaria, infectious parasitic disease that can be either acute or chronic and is frequently recurrent. Malaria is common in Africa, Central and South America, the Mediterranean countries, Asia, and many of the Pacific islands.
..... Click the link for more information. , and other infectious diseases. The potential risk of acquiring AIDS or hepatitis through transfusions has made it a common practice among patients anticipating surgery to "bank" their own blood before it is needed.

Many blood banks also have facilities for apheresis apheresis (əfĕr`əsĭs), or hemapheresis
..... Click the link for more information. , bone marrow donations, and related procedures. Some centers save umbilical cord blood (blood that is especially rich in stem cells stem cells, unspecialized human or animal cells that can produce mature specialized body cells and at the same time replicate themselves. Embryonic stem cells are derived from a blastocyst (the blastula typical of placental mammals; see embryo ), which is very young
..... Click the link for more information. ) for use in treatments; however, the cost of preparing and storing such blood is much higher than that of normal blood. Sometimes parents store their newborn's cord blood at a private cord blood bank in case the child has need of it, but the use of one own's cord blood is ineffective or undesirable in many diseases where such blood is used as a treatment.

blood bank

Organization that collects, stores, processes, and supplies blood. Most blood donations are separated into components, which can be frozen and stored longer than whole blood and used by multiple patients. In hemapheresis, large amounts of one component can be separated from a single donor's blood and the rest returned to the donor. Before World War I, a physician had to find a compatible donor and give an immediate blood transfusion. Safe storage of blood and its components made possible innovations such as heart-lung machines.