Written by Roger Ruiz Community Relations Specialist The South
Texas Blood & Tissue Center celebrates Black History Month in
February by shedding light on Charles Drew, who is considered
the inventor of blood banking. During Dr. Drew’s residency at
Columbia University’s Presbyterian Hospital in the 1940′s, Drew
developed a technique for the long term preservation of blood
plasma. By separating the liquid part of blood (plasma) from the
whole blood (the part containing the red blood cells) and
refrigerating them separately, he could combine them up to a
week later for transfusion. STBTC still uses Dr. Drew’s method
of separation to break each unit of blood donated into several
components, helping as many as three patients with a donation
from one donor. A patients like Chris Pinkerton who suffers from
Sickle Cell Anemia and needs blood transfusions often benefits
from blood donors. With the advanced research and technology,
red blood cells now have a shelf life of 42 days and plasma can
be frozen and stored fo