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Published on: January 19, 2024
Using geographic information system (GIS) technology to evaluate a hospital-based mobile blood donation program
Kristen N Ruby1,2, Walter H Dzik2, Julia J Collins2
1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
Background:
Geographic information system (GIS) technology is widely used in public health to track disease patterns, though its application in transfusion medicine is limited. We report the use of GIS software by a hospital-based blood donor program to examine patterns of blood drive activity.
Study Design And Methods:
We performed a 3-year retrospective study examining our donor program's mobile drives. Esri ArcGIS Pro™ software and ArcGIS Online™ were used to create vector and choropleth maps reflecting activity by town.
Results:
Sixteen thousand nine mobile whole blood donations were identified in 2021-2023. Four hundred and fifty-five mobile blood drives were hosted at 189 unique locations. Seventeen towns within or intersecting a 15-mile radius of our donation center had never been visited by our bloodmobile during the study period, with adult population sizes ranging from approximately 3000 to 53,000 representing donation opportunities. Untapped blood mobile opportunities were also identified in 33 Massachusetts towns (>700,000 adults) with nearby healthcare facilities in our hospital network.
Discussion:
GIS-generated maps serve as an effective tool to identify previously successful blood donation locations and locations not yet visited by our donor program. Blood collection centers may benefit from future application of ArcGIS analysis tools to identify optimal locations for future mobile blood drives.
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