American Red Cross Honors Blood Collection Professionals During Blood

(www.news.mayoclinic.com)During the week of September 16-22, the American Red Cross will join other blood centers across the country in celebrating Blood Collectors Week, sponsored by AABB and Fenwal Blood Technologies. This annual recognition highlights the critical role blood collectors serve in helping to ensure blood is available to patients in need. Sampling blood from alternative sites may be desirable, but it may have some limitations. Blood in the fingertips show changes in glucose levels more quickly than blood in other parts of the body. This means that alternative site test results may be different from fingertip test results not because of the meter's ability to test accurately, but because the actual glucose concentration can be different. FDA believes that further research is needed to better understand these differences in test values and their possible impact on the health of people with diabetes.