13,700 Blood Products Unusable at Red Cross After Freezer Power Failure; Lost Units Make up 1.2% of Annual Supply

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:05 JST, July 15, 2025

Around 13,700 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) were rendered unusable after a freezer storing blood products at　a substation of the Japanese Red Cross Tokyo Metropolitan Blood Center in Koto Ward, Tokyo, lost power, it has been learned.

Equipment malfunction was cited as the cause of the problem.

The Japanese Red Cross Society has since informed blood centers nationwide of the incident and urged them to implement stringent blood product management.

FFP, a blood product derived from donated blood and used for transfusions, plays a vital role in aiding blood coagulation, particularly in patients deficient in the coagulation factors necessary for blood clotting. It is unusual for such a large quantity of FFP to become unusable in a single incident.

According to the center, an alarm sounded at about 10:30 p.m. on May 11 following a power failure in the freezer at the center’s Tatsumi supply substation, where blood products are stored. After the alert, a contractor was dispatched to respond to the issue. Repairs were completed and power was restored in about four hours.

A subsequent review of the temperature monitoring system revealed that the temperature had exceeded the standard freezing threshold of minus 20 C for 150 minutes, resulting in the loss of the units.

The center told The Yomiuri Shimbun that the issue stemmed from a terminal block with a different voltage standard being installed during an upgrade in May last year of the freezer’s control panel, which regulates the temperature.

As a result, voltage exceeding a specified limit had been applied to the device’s electrical circuit for a prolonged period of time, which could have damaged the control panel, it said.

According to one of the society’s business reports, 2.15 million units of FFP were supplied to medical institutions in fiscal 2024, with each unit measuring 120 milliliters. The 13,700 units lost in this incident represent approximately 1.2% of the total annual supply.

While the center emphasized that alternative FFP could be supplied from national stockpiles with no impact on deliveries to medical institutions, it simultaneously announced plans to increase FFP production at its 11 manufacturing facilities nationwide.

The Japanese Red Cross did not report the incident to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry until June 10, a month after it happened and after being contacted by The Yomiuri Shimbun.