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 Medic was established in 1958 by Carl Nelson, MD, under the sponsorship of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine. Area physicians supported the independent, not-for-profit blood center because they wanted a source of blood from volunteer donors, and they desired centralization of blood collection, testing and distribution. Medic's operational and capital costs are financed by blood supplier processing fees charged to hospitals. Medic must collect blood from 250
- 300 donors every day of the work week in order to supply hospitals.
Medic is the only U.S. blood center which has a Blood Coverage Program covering members' blood supplier processing fees at any hospital in the country.
Medic is an accredited member of the American Association of Blood Banks. The center adheres to the blood product safety regulations established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is licensed by the FDA and the State of
Tennessee.
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Testing
Protects Patients |
The
nation's blood
 supply
is safer than ever, thanks to scientific advances in
testing over the past two decades.
Medic, like all other US blood centers, must
test each pint of donated blood for numerous viruses such
as HIV, hepatitis and other potential harmful disease
agents.
Extensive pre-donation screening of all
donors also strives to protect the blood supply from
viruses and diseases such as the West Nile Virus and vCJD
(human form of Mad Cow Disease), until specific laboratory
tests can be developed.
Most of Medic's testing is done in the blood
center's own laboratories. It takes about 48 hours to
complete all tests, including vital ABO typing, before
blood can be released for transfusion.
Nationwide, about 2 to 10 percent of whole
blood units donated are discarded due to positive tests.
"False positives" may occur due to the
sensitivity of the testing procedure. This means that some
donated blood must be discarded even though the
donor actually is not infected.
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