Transportation of blood in Western Cape meets Health Standards. In light of the recent Carte Blanche segment aired on Sunday 26th March 2006, highlighting the transportation of blood and blood products by the South African Blood Services (serving all areas in South Africa except the Western Cape), the Western Province Blood Transfusion Services would like to reassure both clinicians and patients that we conform to the Standards of Practice for Blood Transfusion. WPBTS meets all safety and clinical requirements for the transportation of blood in terms of the containers it uses (hampers) and the temperature of the blood inside the hampers. The cold chain is thus satisfactorily maintained. WPBTS takes responsibility for the transportation of the blood from their head quarters in Pinelands to its blood banks and in most cases to the patient. For at least 30 years we have managed to control this process successfully. We have our own fleet of drivers delivering to hospitals as well as our own cold-storage hampers in which the blood is transported. The hampers are insulated and contain eutectics which keep the temperature between 2 - 10 degrees as stipulated in the Standards of Practice for Blood Transfusion. This procedure ensures that the blood remains in appropriate condition and meets all quality standards for transfusion. If the blood is returned unused within 24 hours, provided the hamper has been handled correctly, the blood is re-entered into the blood supply system. Great care is taken not to waste any precious units of blood. The special precautions we take resulted in WPBTS having an extremely low rate of discarding unused donations. Less than 0.5% of the annual number of units collected is discarded as a result of difficulty with transportation. Donors can be assured that blood collected from voluntary blood donors is treated with the utmost care. With April being Blood Donor Month, prospective donors are urged to contact us on 021 - 5076300 for clinic details or any other queries. If you require any further information or have any questions or comments, please contact the Medical Director, Medical Officer or Admin Director on 021 507 6300 or send us an email. We look forward to hearing your view.