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The Southern Arizona Regional Red Cross blood program offers preoperative autologous blood deposit to all patients and intraoperative autotransfusion services to all hospitals in the region. During a 5-year period, the amount of preoperatively deposited autologous blood and intraoperatively salvaged red cells available increased from 0.3 to 19.6 percent of the community's total collections. Further increases in the availability and use of autologous blood may be achieved by community-wide integration of services.

The Southern Arizona Regional Blood Program of the American Red Cross in cooperation with Tucson hospitals conducted a pilot program of the provision of intraoperative autologous transfusion services. The service provided instruments, staff, and disposables to salvage and wash red cells shed during scheduled and emergency surgical procedures. The lower cost and other efficiencies of providing this service through a regional blood center suggest that it may be more appropriate to offer this service on a regional basis than exclusively within a hospital. Hospitals and regional blood centers should consider offering this advanced form of hemotherapy to their communities.