Once the family agrees on which tissues to donate, before the Red Cross procurement team recovers the tissue, the team leader speaks directly with the donor coordinator who filled out the consent form with the family to verbally verify what tissue the Red Cross is to recover. This safety step is to ensure the procurement team knows exactly which tissues the family agreed upon to recover. These help ensure that the highest possible quality of tissue is used. Red Cross Tissue Services' safety record is excellent. There has never been a documented case of HIV or hepatitis transmission from a Red Cross tissue transplant.
All tissue is procured and processed in an aseptic environment.
To recover costs of the procurement process, including testing, processing, operational expenses, education outreach efforts, personnel training, etc., the Red Cross charges a processing fee. It does not make a profit on the tissue it procures, operating only on a cost-recovery basis. This year, the Red Cross was unable to recover all of the costs incurred by providing Tissue Services. The Red Cross does not supply tissue to cosmetic surgery centers. The Red Cross provides human tissue to hospitals and burn centers with which it contracts.