Introduction to Blood Transfusion Technology

Abstract

In front of you, you have a book about blood transfusion medicine. It describes in an understandable way the technologies, the practices and the basic science which forms the basis of one of the most exciting parts of medicine. After the discovery by Karl Landsteiner of the ABO blood groups in 1900, the use of blood and blood products became a medical treatment of great importance and of relatively low risk compared to other invasive medicinal procedures. History has, however, shown that in order to bring and to keep blood transfusion and transfusion medicine at the highest level of safety and quality, every professional working in this field of medicine should be educated in the different aspects of blood transfusion medicine, trained in the procedures and the techniques, and be vigilant to prevent deviations and mismatched transfusions. In order to avoid the patient encountering any transfusion reaction, a great number of preventive measures need to be taken. The most important are: donor screening, testing for the occurrence of blood-borne infectious transmissible diseases and blood group compatibility testing. This book will teach you about these elements of the quality of blood for transfusion. It describes the aspects that should be known by all who are involved in blood transfusion medicine. The starting point of blood transfusion is the blood donor, and it is the vision of many, including the ISBT, that the voluntary, non-remunerated donor is essential in this process. Blood is and stays a gift and not a commodity. Donating blood is an act of companionship for which no country or cultural borders exist. It is more and more recognized that being a blood donor is one of the few non-material matters for which people really mean something for each other. Blood is a rich source of essential cellular and humoral components, each of them important for some patients in specific clinical need. Blood transfusion medicine, blood transfusion technology and blood transfusion science, all three, form the basis for the progress of one unique medical treatment founded on the human blood donor. I hope that this book, written with much knowledge and experience, will be an excellent teaching book for all who are involved in blood transfusion medicine.