Blood Donor Basics
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OneBlood and American Red Cross Form Regulated Software Com
(June 8, 2020 – Miramar, Florida) OneBlood, Inc. and the American Red Cross have reached a definitive agreement to form ARC-One Solutions, LLC, a regulated software company that brings increased flexibility to managing their blood supplies. The joint venture will own and enhance the software platform currently known as Regulated Software Application or “RSA”. In the future, the software will be offered for license to other blood providers.
This one-of-a-kind software application is highly intuitive, user friendly and allows each unit of donated blood to be tracked from collection to transfusion and every step in between. RSA also enables donors to move through the system faster, allowing for increased blood collections and improved donor satisfaction. With both OneBlood and the Red Cross operating on RSA, the software platform will be used to manage more than half of the nation’s blood supply.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, RSA was originally created by OneBlood, the not-for-profit blood center in Florida that serves the Southeastern United States. OneBlood has been operating on the software system for more than 15 years.
“What makes RSA so unique is that it can be customized to fit the business needs of the blood center”, said Bud Scholl, president and chief executive officer for OneBlood.
“The Red Cross is committed to continuous innovation to ensure efficient and modern management of our blood supply,” said Chris Hrouda, president of Red Cross Biomedical Services. “This software will allow flexibility to adapt to the needs of our valued donors and hospital partners to ensure lifesaving blood is readily available for patients.”
The completion of the agreement was finalized in April when OneBlood transferred ownership of RSA to ARC-One Solutions. The newly formed company has begun preparing the software platform for use by the Red Cross for manufacturing and distributing its blood products. Integration will be done in a phased approach over a multi-year time period.
OneBlood and the Red Cross will continue to operate independently to collect, process and deliver blood products to their respective hospital partners.
Generally healthy people age 16 or older who weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood. Photo ID is required. To learn more about the importance of blood donation and how donors can target the power of their blood type visit oneblood.org. All donors receive a wellness checkup of blood pressure, pulse, temperature and iron count, including a cholesterol screening, plus a surprise gift.
One of three people will need blood in their lifetime. Blood that is donated today will likely be transfused within two to three days. The turn-around is that fast, the need is constant.
