Besides providing safe and reliable blood products to patients in hospitals across six states, the Greater Alleghenies Region also provides the following services:

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS:
While residents of the communities we serve can count on a safe and readily available community blood supply provided by volunteer donors, some individuals may wish to receive their own blood or that of relatives and friends.

Autologous Donation
Those who wish to donate their own blood in advance of surgery can do so through a process known as autologous blood donation. This has long been recognized as the safest possible transfusion method and, when practical, is ordered by the individual's physician.

Directed Donation
For those who are more comfortable having family members or friends donate blood for them before surgery, a directed donation can be made. Directed donations are also conducted under the direction and advice of an individual's physician, and must be arranged through the region's Special Collections Department.

Note: Studies have shown that blood collected from directed donors is, on the average, no safer than blood donated by volunteer donors.

CLINICAL SERVICES:

Intraoperative Autologous Recovery
Intraoperative Autologous Recovery (IAR) is another method of autologous donation. This procedure allows the surgeon in the operating room to recover blood lost during surgery and immediately return it to the patient. The procedure is very advantagous in orthopedic and vascular surgeries.

Therapeutic Phlebotomy
Apheresis is a term applied to procedures in which blood is collected and processed to allow removal of specific blood component and reinfusion of the remaining ones. Therapeutic applications include the removal of abnormal or excess blood constituents such as leukocytes, platelets, red cells, paraproteins and autoantibodies. Thereaputic plasma exchange is indicated in specific autoimmune disorders, hematological disorders, metabolic disorders, neurological disorders and renal disorders.

PATIENT SERVICES:

The Patient Services department provides technical support in resolving problems found in patient sample testing by regional hospital blood bank staff. This support may include identifying a serum antibody, resolving a patient's blood type, or finding blood products of a rare or unusual type for a patient with very special needs.