From Needle to Needle                         Blood is alive. It consists namely of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets swimming around in our body in a protein-rich liquid called plasma. Blood flows through our body, replenishing, protecting, cleaning and healing it. The functions of the different cells, which make up blood, are a lot. Like every other living thing, blood cells have a lifetime and need to be replaced; red cells live for about 120 days in our body, whereas white cells have a lifetime that varies from a few days to a few weeks. Our body takes care to replace these cells by producing new ones.       When a whole blood donation is made, the donor is first interviewed by a doctor and answers a set of questions, which help the doctor determine the donor’s eligibility. This purpose of this examination is twofold and both are important to us, first we only take blood from people who are healthy, thus obtaining the best possible product, and secondly we do not want to harm donors by letting persons donate when their body is not fit. The blood donation process is carried out under sterile conditions. The donor’s arm is cleansed with a disinfectant agent, and a sterile needle is used to withdraw blood. The needle used is a disposable single-use needle, which forms part of a sterile pack comprising of bags (which will host the collected blood), to which are attached tubing and a needle.       This needle is inserted into a vein, not an artery, and blood flows through the tubing into the bags. During the blood donation a number of samples are taken for testing purposes, these are delivered to the NBTS laboratories in order to be screened. In the labs, the blood is checked for a series of transmissible diseases and also for ABO and Rh grouping. The blood bags are sent to our products laboratory where they first undergo a filtration process to remove the white blood cells that might cause a side effect to the recipient, then these are centrifuged and separated into different components, red cells, plasma and, depending on the demands of our clients, cryoprecipitate and platelets. The different components are then stored in appropriate temperature controlled rooms or containers to optimise their shelf life. When the testing and production are complete, the different components are transferred into inventory so that they may be used. The Maltese hospitals request the blood products from us on behalf of the patient, and many supply a blood sample from the patient in order that our Patient Serology Laboratory can perform a compatibility test to determine which type of component is best for a particular patient.               When a match is found this is checked, packed and transferred to the hospital, again in temperature controlled containers. When the time comes, a new sterile pack of tubing is affixed to a proper attachment on the bag and a needle is inserted into the vein of the patient’s arm, ready to be transfused. The blood that once flowed from a needle out of a generous donor is now flowing to a needle to replenish and revive a patient’s life.