SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Apr. 02, 2011	Apr. 03, 2010
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Number of weeks in each fiscal year	P52W	P52W	P53W
Number of weeks in each quarter	P13W	P13W
Cash and cash equivalents maximum maturity period	3 months
Depreciation expense	$ 38,600,000	$ 37,000,000	$ 35,500,000
Capitalized software impairment		12,200,000
Intangible asset impairment		3,500,000
VAT Liabilities	6,875,000	11,867,000
Forward Contracts	1,185,000	4,174,000
Deferred Revenue	24,132,000	21,740,000
HS Core Liability	3,654,000	0
All Other	20,989,000	8,475,000
Total	56,835,000	46,256,000
Advertising expense	4,500,000	2,800,000	1,600,000
Shipping and handling costs	10,900,000	9,700,000	11,200,000
Foreign currency loss	400,000	1,400,000	2,200,000
First Three Quarters [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Number of weeks in each quarter			P13W
Fourth Quarter [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Number of weeks in each quarter			P14W
Building [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	30
Building Improvements [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, minimum (in years)	5
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, maximum (in years)	20
Leasehold Improvements [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life (in years)	5
Plant Equipment and Machinery [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, minimum (in years)	3
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, maximum (in years)	10
Office Equipment and Information Technology [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, minimum (in years)	3
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, maximum (in years)	9
Haemonetics Equipment [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, minimum (in years)	2
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, maximum (in years)	6
Japanese Red Cross Society [Member] | Accounts Receivable [Member] | Customer Concentration Risk [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Concentration risk (as a percent)	15.30%	13.70%	12.60%
Japanese Red Cross Society [Member] | Sales [Member] | Customer Concentration Risk [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Concentration risk, number of customers	1	1	1
Credit risk, accounts receivable	99,500,000	95,900,000	92,600,000
Customer B [Member] | Accounts Receivable [Member] | Customer Concentration Risk [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Concentration risk (as a percent)	6.60%
Customer B [Member] | Sales [Member] | Customer Concentration Risk [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Credit risk, accounts receivable	79,900,000
Italy | Sales [Member] | Deteriorating Credit and Economic Conditions [Member]
Summary of Significant Accounting Pronouncements [Line Items]
Credit risk, accounts receivable	$ 21,000,000	$ 20,400,000