Whole blood donated at a drive is rarely transfused as whole blood; within hours it is spun in a centrifuge and separated into red cells, plasma, and platelets, each stored differently and given to a different kind of patient. Red cells go to trauma victims and surgery patients, plasma to burn victims and people with clotting disorders, and platelets, which last only about a week, to cancer patients whose treatments suppress their own production. A single donation can therefore help as many as three separate patients, a fact that donation centers repeat often because it addresses a common misconception that one pint helps only one person.