Transfusing blood safely and appropriately

#### Summary points Blood transfusion is an essential part of modern healthcare and can be life saving when used appropriately. Blood services worldwide strive to provide a safe supply and work with hospitals to ensure that blood products are readily available for patients. Blood components such as red cells, platelets, fresh frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate, and granulocytes are prepared from whole blood donations or collected by apheresis. Plasma derivatives such as coagulation factor concentrates, immunoglobulins, and albumin are prepared from large pools of plasma under drug manufacturing conditions. #### Sources and selection criteria As well as using our personal reference collections, we searched the Cochrane database (www.cochrane.org), Clinical Evidence (http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com), Best Practice (http://bestpractice.bmj.com), and a library of systematic reviews in transfusion medicine (www.transfusionevidencelibrary.com). The review draws on multiple sources including national guidelines, peer reviewed original research publications including randomised controlled trials, and systematic reviews. Examples include transfusion guidelines from Australia and New Zealand, which were developed from a series of systematic reviews,1 and a special collection of systematic reviews on avoiding unnecessary transfusion in the Cochrane Library.2 The process of getting a unit of …