General Donation Procedures

When you give at one of our fixed sites or at a blood drive, you will be asked to complete a brief, confidential questionnaire concerning your medical history, lifestyle, and risk of exposure to infectious agents. Your answers to these questions will help us determine whether or not you are an eligible donor. If you meet the requirements for donating blood, you will then be given a "mini-physical" consisting of a pulse, temperature, blood pressure and iron-level check. This initial screening process and physical exam takes approximately 30 minutes. You will also receive by mail your overall cholesterol test results and blood type.

Apheresis Donations:
Apheresis is an automated donation process that allows you to selectively donate the blood components that are needed for transfusion. Blood is drawn and is passed through a cell separator where the component is collected and the remainder is returned to you. This is different from whole blood donations where the blood components are separated later in laboratories, involving manual secondary handling. Apheresis is very safe. Each donation is medically supervised and is performed using a sterile disposable processing kit which is used only once. The kit is then destroyed.

South Texas Blood & Tissue Center offers 4 types of apheresis donation: dual red blood cell, platelet, plasma and red cell-plasma.

The same good health requirements that govern a regular blood donation apply here. You should not take aspirin or ibuprofen for two days before donating. Please inquire about the acceptability of other medications when scheduling your appointment. There is a deferral period of 3 days after a whole blood or plasma donation.

Advantages:
Every time you give, a patient benefits. Receiving a platelet unit from a single donor reduces the risk of an adverse transfusion reaction from several different donors.

Red Blood Cell-Plasma Apheresis (RBCP)

Procedure:
This process allows you to donate a unit of red cells and a unit of plasma during one visit.

Requirements:
The physical requirements for the RBCP are the same as for a whole blood donation. That is, you must be at least 17 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good general health.

Advantages :
You will be able to donate two units of blood products during one visit to the blood center. Concentrated red blood cells are the most often ordered product for surgery, and plasma is used intensively for patients with auto-immune disorders and patients suffering burn injuries.

The process uses a smaller needle. You will receive saline (a salt solution) to replace the volume of blood that you donate. You will actually have a smaller net volume loss than you would with a traditional whole blood donation.

You will be deferred for eight (8) weeks, just as in a regular whole blood donation.