Blake Batthauer, Testing Laboratory Manager at Indiana Blood Center, speaks out about what happens to blood after its donated:
When donating blood, a lot goes on behind the scenes that most people don’t know about.
Testing takes place at Indiana Blood Center’s main branch, but we also do testing for a number of smaller blood centers and cord blood banks as well.
In the Donor Testing Laboratory, nearly 300,000 donations are tested each year. The testing menu covers HIV, Hepatitis B and C, West Nile Virus, Human T-lymphotropic virus, Syphilis, antibody detection, blood typing, Chagas and Cytomegalovirus.
“Testing to ensure the safety of the blood supply is not only good for the recipient of a unit of blood, but it can be good for the donor as well.”
At Indiana Blood Center we have opted to test total cholesterol on all donated units. Donors can access those results and learn their blood type by logging on to DonorPoint.org. Even though the donor can’t view their other test results, they will be informed and counseled if anything is found during testing that might indicate an upcoming health issue.
The Donor Testing Laboratory utilizes some of the best technologies available to complete these tests as quickly and accurately as possible. Indiana Blood Center also has a well-trained group of staff members, most of whom have been with Indiana Blood Center for many years.
Indiana Blood Center evaluates new equipment and methods of testing frequently. Upcoming changes to our laboratory will add nearly ten new pieces of equipment. This will allow us to complete testing faster and more efficiently. Along with these additions, Indiana Blood Center will gain the ability to test for Epstein-Barr virus as well as the opportunity to complete confirmatory testing for multiple assays. More to come…
Learn more about Indiana Blood Center’s Donor Testing Lab right here.
Blake, thanks for informing all readers on the importance of our Donor Testing Lab. We are looking forward to the upcoming strides the lab will be taking!
