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Donate Blood - FAQ Overview | FAQ | Where to Donate | Double Red Cell Donation Download the Hoxworth Fact Sheet (175 KB - requires Adobe Acrobat reader) 56 Facts About Blood 1. Who can donate? (revised Feb. 2008) Basic Donation Criteria: You must meet all of the following criteria in order to donate: - Be at least 17 years old. - Weigh at least 110 lbs (bodyweight). - Generally feel well and healthy. - Have no fever, sore throat or flu-like symptoms. - Have no active cold symptoms. - Have not had major surgery recently. (released from doctors care). - Requirements for double red cell donors: Men: > 51 height, weight > 130 lbs. Women: > 55 height, weight > 150 lbs. Temporary Deferral The following criteria may affect your ability to donate: - Tattoo/Body Piercing*:these are acceptable if sterile technique was used in a licensed facility in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky. If done in any other manner, you must wait 12 months after the procedure was performed. - Pregnancy You cannot donate while pregnant. You may donate six weeks after the pregnancy has ended. - Allergies: You may not donate until 6 hours after your allergy shot. - Travel*:If traveling to a known malarial zone, you must wait one year. If you lived in a known malarial zone, you must wait 3 years after immigrating to the U.S. You may donate if you are taking the following medications: - Aspirin: platelet donors must wait 48 hours after ingestion. - Ibuprofen (Advil/Aleve [Naproxen]) platelet donors must wait 24 hours. - Birth Control Pills - Blood Pressure Medication: provided your blood pressure is under control. - Antibiotics: 24 hours after the last oral dose is taken and you are symptom free. - Diabetes Medication: Oral medication is acceptable. Insulin dependent diabetics may donate provided they have not used beef-source insulin since Jan. 1, 1980. - Heart Disease* Permanent Disqualification You may NOT donate at any time if you have: - Tested positive for HIV. - Participated in high-risk behaviors associated with HIV infection. - Viral Hepatitis after the age of 11. - Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C virus infection at any age. - Certain forms of Cancer* - General recommendation to help with the donation process: - Eat a good meal, drink plenty of non-caffeinated or non-alcoholic liquids before and after donating. - Bring the names of your medications. We will ask the reasons for use to determine eligibility. - Bring your last 3 years of foreign travel history. - Eat good meals and drink plenty of fluids following donation. - You may donate again in 56 days (8 weeks), unless you donated a double red cell (112 days). *Call our Donor Services department for information regarding other states for Tattoo/Body Piercing, or more information regarding Travel , Heart Disease and Cancer at (513) 558-1304; toll-free at (800) 265-1515, ext. 8-1304. 2. What happens during the donation process? If you have never donated blood and wonder what to expect, here is a step-by-step description of what is involved in donating blood. The entire process takes only about 45 minutes. WIKIPEDIA Definition of blood donation...more >> Before Your Donation You register with the receptionist. You are then given important information to read about AIDS. You are directed not to donate if you have participated in "high risk" behavior for AIDS. Your next step is to complete the donor information form. This includes personal data and health history questions requiring "yes" or "no" written answers. It also contains a section of questions that will be asked by a health history interviewer. You will then receive a mini-physical. A drop of blood will be taken from your finger to measure the percentage of red cells in your blood (iron level), and your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature will be checked. (If anything is questionable with your health, you are told and referred for proper treatment.) During Your Donation After the screening process, you will be asked from which arm you would prefer to donate. Then you will lie on a donor chair. A staff member will clean a spot on your arm and insert a sterile, non-reusable needle. You will feel a slight twinge, like a pinch. (An important note to emphasize is that Hoxworth uses equipment and needles that are prepackaged, sterilized, used only once and then destroyed. It is absolutely impossible to contract AIDS from donating blood.) In about 10 minutes, you will have completed your actual blood donation. Slightly less than a pint of blood is taken (most adults have an average of 10 to 12 pints). Five test tubes of your blood will also be taken for typing and testing purposes. After Your Donation You will be asked to rest for 10 to 15 minutes in our canteen area. You will be given refreshments - orange, apple, V-8 juice, or soda - to help your body begin to replace the fluid volume lost through your donation (your body replaces that fluid within 24 hours). Cookies are also served. Some Hoxworth donation locations serve popcorn. You will be eligible to donate again in eight weeks. 3. What Components are Made From Your Blood? Whole Blood - can be stored for up to 35 days. Red Blood Cells - can be stored for up to 42 days. Used to increase red cell mass for trauma, surgery and burns. Platelet Concentrate - can be stored for up to five days. Used to treat leukemia and other cancers, platelet function abnormality, bleeding due to thrombocytopenia (platelet storage). Cryoprecipitate - can be stored frozen for up to one year. Used to treat fibrinogen deficiency, Von Willenbrand's disease, manufacture fibrin glue, to treat factor VIII deficiency (Hemophilia A). Fresh Frozen Plasma - can be stored for up to one year. Used to treat some coagulation disorders and shock due to plasma loss in burns or hemorrhage. 4. How rare is your blood type? While all blood types are important, the following chart shows the percentage distribution of the human blood types in the general population. Rh+: A - 34%, B - 9%, AB - 3%, O - 38% Rh-: A - 6%, B - 2%, AB - 1%, O - 7% 5. Is donating blood safe? Donating blood is absolutely safe, but there can be risks associated with receiving blood. However, strict screening practices in the selection of blood donors, as well as safety procedures for storage and transportation of blood, make America's blood supply as safe as modern technology can make it. First of all, all donors are volunteers, and do not receive money for their donations. Additionally, only people with a clean bill of health can give blood. Donors must answer a series of questions about their health and risk factors for disease and undergo a brief physical examination before giving blood. During the donation process, Hoxworth uses pre-packaged, sterile equipment that is used once and then destroyed. Each unit of blood (about one pint) then goes through extensive tests to make sure it's safe for transfusion. If a unit of blood shows evidence of infectious disease, it is discarded, and the donor is permanently deferred from future donations. In almost every case, the life-saving benefits of receiving a blood transfusion outweigh the possible risk of contracting an infectious disease. 6. Can you donate blood for yourself? All of the blood Hoxworth supplies comes from carefully screened volunteer donors. But if you are anticipating elective surgery in the near future that might require one or more blood transfusions, you may be able to be your own blood donor through the autologous blood program. Your blood, also called autologous blood, can be donated and held in reserve for your elective surgery. It is absolutely compatible and cannot cause transfusion-related problems. Almost everyone who is facing the need for elective surgery may give an autologous donation. Requirements are less stringent for autologous blood donors than regular volunteer donors. Do not feel you cannot donate because you have not been accepted as a blood donor in the past. If you are interested in giving blood for yourself, consult your physician or Hoxworth's appointment center at (513) 451-0910. 7. Can your blood donation be directed to a specific patient? A designated donation allows patients needing blood or blood components to designate who their donors will be. There are limitations to this program, and also a special service charge which has to be paid in advance by the patient. For more information, please contact Hoxworth's appointment center at (513) 451-0910. 8. Is giving blood a community responsibility? Yes, although there is no mandatory requirement to replace blood transfused to patients in the hospitals served by Hoxworth, everyone within the community has a stake in an adequate blood supply. If a patient should require a transfusion, the necessary blood will be available only because a volunteer donor felt that giving blood was worth doing.Hoxworth charges a processing fee to hospitals when supplying blood (which covers costs associated with recruiting donors, drawing, testing and distributing the blood). This charge is usually covered by health insurance and appears on the patient's hospital bill.For information about how you or your organization can sponsor a blood drive, please contact our Donor Recruitment and Development Department at (513) 558-1280. 9. What is Hoxworth's Resource Sharing Policy? Hoxworth strives to be a self-sufficient blood center. To be able to meet unexpected demands for blood components, Hoxworth attempts to secure enough donors to provide a surplus above that normally used in our community. As is the common practice in many blood centers throughout the nation, cellular components not needed here are supplied to other communities. The liquid portion of blood, the plasma, is always in excess and is sold for further manufacture into injectable blood products.
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