Seven Lines of Safety

Safety is the primary goal of American Red Cross Blood Services, for both the donor and the recipient of transfusion products. Not only does every ounce of blood or blood product the Red Cross provides meet or exceed state and federal safety guidelines, it must also pass through seven lines of safety.

Since all blood the Red Cross collects comes from healthy donors, any incentives that could induce an unhealthy person to donate are eliminated.

Before anyone donates blood, the Red Cross provides donors with a comprehensive list of risk behaviors for infectious diseases. Donors are encouraged to defer themselves if any of these reasons apply to them.

Using a hand-held computer, Red Cross staff cross check the potential donor's social security number against the donor deferral registry to confirm that the individual is indeed eligible to donate on this date.

Through personal interviews, Red Cross health professionals screen every single donor to determine whether there is any reason why that individual should not be donating. If even one reason is discovered, the person will not be allowed to donate.

5. Confidential Unit Exclusion

Following the interview, every donor goes into a private area to confidentially choose one of two identifying bar code labels. One of these labels indicates the donor believes his blood should not be used for some reason. This safety step allows people who might be donating in response to peer pressure, to prevent their blood from being transfused without anyone else knowing.

The Red Cross provides every donor a card listing, an "800" number which he/she can call later if a donor learns of any reason why his/her blood should not be used. For example, if a donor comes down with flu symptoms soon after donating, the Red Cross should know to avoid transfusing a hospital patient with that blood.

Only if a donation makes it through the first six safety steps does it enter the laboratory for testing. Click here for a list of tests the Red Cross performs on each blood donation.