Q: What is the status of the blood supply in the United States?
A: The blood supply in the U.S. is consistently low. Because blood is perishable, blood collectors must consistently maintain an adequate supply of blood. However the demand for blood increases each year faster than the rate at which people are donating blood. Currently, more than 4,000 gallons of red blood cells (the most used blood component) are used in the U.S. every day. As fewer than five percent of the eligible donors in the U.S. give blood, the supply of red blood cells barely serves the growing demand. In addition, new regulations, today's busier lifestyles, and an aging population are further decreasing the number of eligible donors. Simultaneously, the number of elective surgeries and treatments continue to increase.

Q: Why is it critical to maintain an adequate national blood supply?
A: Treatment delays for patients - with a limited blood supply, the least critical surgeries are at risk of being canceled, since blood must be allocated to acute needs first.

Economic strain on blood collectors - to help ensure an adequate blood supply, blood collectors that cannot meet the demand in their region are compelled to import blood from other regions that have a surplus. The funds used to purchase blood are often dollars reallocated from donor recruitment funds. Consequently, this decreases the amount of time, effort and money available to recruit new donors, broaden the donor pool, and increase the blood supply. It is a "Catch 22" situation.

Q: What is surgical blood salvage?
A: Surgical blood salvage, also called autotransfusion or cell salvage, involves the collection of a patient's own blood both during and after surgery, for reinfusion to that patient. Surgical blood salvage is often used in trauma treatment, cardiovascular surgeries, and orthopedic surgeries.

Q: What technology is used for surgical blood salvage?
A: Haemonetics has developed three devices for surgical blood salvage: the Cell Saver® system, the OrthoPAT® system, and the cardioPAT™ system.

Cell Saver 5 System - The Cell Saver system can salvage shed blood during a wide range of procedures when there is rapid, high volume blood loss. The Cell Saver system monitors and controls the cycling of the blood. A sensor checks the level of shed blood and an on-board computer initiates the cell processing, or cleaning and washing of the blood, and readies it to be returned to the patient.

OrthoPAT System - The OrthoPAT system is the first and only device to collect and process blood in alignment with the special needs of the orthopedic patient who tend to lose less blood, bleed slowly, or lose blood after surgery. The system also cleans the lost blood and makes it available for reinfusion to the patient. The OrthoPAT system is lightweight and small for easy transport from the operating room, to the post-op area, to the patient floor. Because it can process varying volumes of blood, it is especially suited for the orthopedic area.

cardioPAT System - The cardioPAT system is the first and only device to collect and process blood during and after cardiovascular surgery. The system cleans the lost blood and makes is available for reinfusion to the patient. The cardioPAT system is lightweight and small for easy transport from the operating room to post-op. (The cardioPAT system is currently in limited market release in the U.S. and Europe. It will be available for all patients by the end of calendar 2005.)

Q: What are the benefits of surgical blood salvage?
A: The most significant benefit of surgical blood salvage is that the need to tap into the blood supply is decreased. During a time when the blood supply is often not adequate to meet demand, blood salvage offers a compelling alternative to prevent cancellations of elective procedures due to low blood supply. Other significant benefits include:

For the patient:

• It eliminates a patient's risk of transfusion-related illness or disease.
• It ensures that the patient receives the safest blood possible: his or her own.
• It improves patients' treatment outcomes and decreases the length of hospital stays.

For the community:

• It increases the blood available for other patients in need.

For the hospital:

• It reduces the need for transfusions of donated blood.
• It is a cost effective alternative to transfusing donated blood.
• It allows hospitals to predictably schedule surgeries and reduces the need to postpone elective surgeries.