Blood Banking - Blood Donation

Blood Donation

There is always a need for blood donors. Modern medical care, including surgery and medical treatment for many diseases, is not possible without the use of blood products. A shortage of blood products means that someone may not get prompt, adequate care.

Whole blood is collected from healthy donors who are required to meet strict criteria concerning:

• Medical history
  
• Physical health
  
• Possible contact with transfusion-transmissible infectious diseases, including a history of:
  
  • Sexual behavior
    
  • Drug use
    
  • Travel to areas of endemic disease (e.g., malaria)
    

A photo identification is required for all donors. The potential donor must:

• Be in good health and feeling well on the day of donation.
  
• Be on no prescribed medication that would cause the donor a problem when donating or that would affect the recipient
  
• Have a hemoglobin (red blood cell) level which meets the established U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standard.
  
• Wait 56 days before giving another donation of whole blood.
  

All donors are required to complete a health questionnaire and blood safety form during a confidential interview by a donor center health care worker each time they come in to donate blood. The purpose of this process is to determine whether a donation can be obtained safely.
Please note that AIDS and other infectious diseases CANNOT be transmitted to a blood donor. The equipment used to collect blood is sterile, used only once and then discarded. There is NO risk of contracting AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.