Blood banking refers to the processes used to collect blood and blood components, store them appropriately, and prepare them for transfusion to a patient. However, many people also use the term to refer to the scientific processes of choosing appropriate products for individual patients and other clinical decisions that are really better defined as “transfusion medicine.” I will sometimes lapse into the habit of using the terms interchangeably in the articles and discussions on this site. In fact, the name of this site is somewhat misleading, because the information discussed represents not only blood banking, but transfusion medicine as well.