The Tennessee Valley Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross began collecting blood 59 years ago, on February 14, 1949.
Today, it is one of 36 American Red Cross blood services regions nationwide.
The Tennessee Valley Region includes 79 counties in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois and covers a population of 3 million. It provides blood products and services to 59 hospitals as well as numerous dialysis clinics and outpatient facilities. The Region works with 22 Chapters in the service area to support blood drives.
To meet patient needs, the Tennessee Valley Region operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its reference lab ---which is linked to the world's largest registry of rare blood donors--- works with physicians and hospitals to provide blood for patients with rare blood types or serologic problems requiring specialized testing.
The Tennessee Valley Region employs 380 staff and runs an average of 18 whole blood collection operations each weekday, and 12 each weekend, collecting approximately 3,200 units/week. The Region also collects around 10,000 platelet products by apheresis each year.
The blood collected by the Tennessee Valley Region is manufactured into over 300,000 blood components including red blood cells, plasma and platelets.
The Tennessee Valley Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross began collecting blood 59 years ago, on February 14, 1949.