Whole Blood Collection

Whole blood contains RBCs and plasma, with a

hematocrit level of approximately 38%.

Most whole blood donations are made into

components, red cells, platelets, plasma,
cryoprecipitate, or some combination of these
components. If the donation remains as whole
blood, it must be stored at 1°C to 6°C, and the
shelf-life is dependent on the preservative used.

Additive Shelf-Life
ACD (Acid Citrate 21
Dextrose)
CPD (Citrate 21
Phosphate Dextrose)
CPDA-1 (Citrate 35
Phosphate Dextrose-
Adenine)

Whole blood units can be irradiated at a

minimum dose of 25 Gy delivered to the center
of container and 15 Gy to any other point of the
container to inhibit T-cell proliferation in the
recipient, but it can decrease the shelf-life to 28
days from the date of the irradiation and it is
stored at 1°C to 6°C. In addition, Cesium-137
and cobalt-60 can also be used.

Whole blood transfusion provide both oxygen-

carrying capacity and volume expansion but the
same benefit can be achieved using packed red
blood cell transfusion with the advantage of
decreasing the incidence of Transfusion-
associated circulatory overload. In line with this
additive used in Packed RBC are the following

Name Abbreviation Storage Time

(Days)
Adsol (Baxter AS-1 42
Healthcare)
Nutricel (Pall AS-3 42
Corporation)
Optisol AS-5 42
(Terumo
Corporation)