Methods and apparatus collecting blood from patients and managing blood donations are provided, which may include any number of features. One feature is a blood collection device configured to collect blood from a patient and periodically transmit blood collection data from the device to a control system. Another feature is a system and method for updating firmware on a plurality of blood collection devices. In one embodiment, a software interface with a blood collection control can be used to specify a blood collection protocol, and the blood collection protocol can be then transmitted to one or more blood collection devices.