The standard time interval between blood donations is 8 weeks. However, most healthy persons can donate one unit every 5-7 days for limited periods of time (1-2 months), assisted by oral iron supplements.

Since the use of blood transfusion has increased dramatically over the years, maintenance of adequate donor sources has been a constant problem. In Russia, cadaver blood apparently has been used to a limited extent. If collected less than 6 hours postmortem, it does not differ significantly from stored (bank) blood, except that anticoagulation is not required. A few experimental studies have been done in the United States, with favorable results.

Autotransfusion (autologous transfusion) is the collection and subsequent transfusion of the patient’s own blood. This avoids all problems of transfusion reaction or transfusion-related infection, and in addition is useful in patients whose religious beliefs preclude receiving blood from others. Depending on the circumstances, one or more units may be withdrawn at appropriate intervals (every 5-7 days) before elective surgery and either preserved as whole blood, as packed RBCs, or in long-term storage as frozen RBC, depending on the time interval between processing and transfusion. Another type of autotransfusion consists of equipment that enables operating room personnel to reclaim suctioned blood from operative sites and recycle it back into the patient as a transfusion.