Blood Bank

The UF Health Shands Blood Bank is an FDA-registered facility that is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB). We use the latest in automated gel technology to obtain quality test results, provide a wide range of advanced immunohematology services and support transfusion services for a Level 1 trauma center; children’s services; solid organ, bone marrow, and progenitor cell transplant programs; a children’s heart center; a neonatology & extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program; 23 operating room (OR) suites; a regional burn center; hematology oncology; and labor and delivery.

The Blood Bank maintains allocated inventory in seven satellite refrigerators located in the Trauma Center, Emergency Room (ER), OR, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), and Burn Intensive Care Init (ICU) and functions as a centralized reference antibody identification testing site for other UF Health Shands health care transfusion services.

Services

  • Testing for blood group antigens, compatibility and complex antibody identification
  • Investigating abnormalities such as hemolytic disease of the newborn, hemolytic anemias and adverse responses to transfusion
  • Supporting physicians in transfusion therapy for patients with coagulopathies
  • Providing compatibility testing and antibody titration studies for potential donor/recipients of progenitor cells, bone marrow and solid organ transplants
  • Performing platelet antibody screening, platelet antibody identification and HPA-1a antigen typing
  • Preparing and modifying blood and blood product components (irradiate, leukocyte reduce, volume reduce, split, aliquot, thaw, pool & wash)