The importance of blood inventory and diversity in supply
Maintaining a diverse and sufficient blood supply is essential for hospital care, as transfusions support many critical treatments. Several known red blood cell antigens make donor-recipient matching complex, especially across diverse populations, highlighting the need to overcome barriers such as mistrust or lack of awareness in underrepresented communities. In the U.S., blood donors must meet specific health and eligibility requirements to ensure safety for both donor and recipient. The following podcast episodes feature blood banking-related interviews that discuss these topics.
Learning objectives
- Identify the importance of maintaining a diverse and sufficient blood supply in supporting critical hospital treatments.
- Describe the barriers that affect blood donation rates among underrepresented communities and the strategies to address them.
- Recognize the complexity of red blood cell antigen matching and outline the basic eligibility requirements for blood donation in the United States.
Intended audience
- A Mayo Clinic-curated podcast for physicians, laboratory professionals, and students.
Podcast episodes
Diversity in blood supply
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Be the type to save a life
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Why blood inventory is so important
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Credit
The following types of credit are offered upon completion of all bundled podcast episodes:
ASCLS P.A.C.E.®
Mayo Clinic Laboratories is approved as a provider of continuing education program in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® program. This program has been approved for a maximum of 1.0 P.A.C.E.® contact hour.
State of Florida
Mayo Clinic Laboratories is approved as a Continuing Education Accrediting Agency for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences for the State of Florida. Florida Board of Clinical Laboratory Personnel has designated this program for General (Blood Banking) credit. This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hour.
To obtain credit
- Listen to/view all bundled podcast episodes.
- Complete the post test and evaluation.
- Generate and print your certificate(s).
Level of instruction for this program is basic.
Faculty disclosure
Course director(s), planning committee, faculty, and all others who are in a position to control the content of this educational activity are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest related to the subject matter of the educational activity. Safeguards against commercial bias have been put in place. Faculty members also will disclose any off-label and/or investigational use of pharmaceuticals or instruments discussed in their presentations. Disclosure of this information will be published in course materials so those participants in the activity may formulate their own judgments regarding the presentations.
More from Lab Medicine Rounds
A Mayo Clinic-curated podcast for physicians, laboratory professionals, and students, hosted by Dr. Justin Kreuter, assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at Mayo Clinic, and featuring trending educational topics from subject matter experts.
