In operation since 1943, United Blood Services is a community blood center which provides blood, blood components and special services to patients in more than 500 hospitals in 18 states. Located in Lafayette, La., the center offers a series of services in pre-operative autologous donation, directed donation, perioperative blood salvage, therapeutic (clinical) apheresis and stem cell processing, to name a few. It also provides several laboratory services, such as immunohematology reference laboratory, histocompatibility laboratory and donor counseling.