The ARC Hemovigilance Program: advancing the safety of blood donation and transfusion

Since 2005, the American Red Cross (ARC) Hemovigilance Program has systematically evaluated adverse reactions and complications after blood donation and transfusion, which has led to improvements in safety for both donors and patients. After establishing baseline estimates of the risk of transfusion reactions such as transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) and sepsis from bacterially contaminated platelet components, the program has demonstrated that the preventive measures that were implemented to reduce their occurrence were effective.^1–4 Reports of transfusion-transmitted infections, most commonly babesiosis linked to RBC components, have identified the need for targeted interventions.⁵ The program has also described the spectrum of adverse reactions experienced by healthy volunteers after whole blood or apheresis donation, including systemic (e.g., vasovagal), phlebotomy-related, and other complications.^6,7 The information about donor reactions has led to several initiatives to reduce the already low rates of complications among the most susceptible groups and improve the donors’ experience.^8,9 In this report, we present annual data on donation and transfusion complications in the ARC in 2007 and discuss the strengths and limitations of our national hemovigilance program.