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Donating
Platelets
What are
Platelets?
Platelets are blood cells that help control bleeding. When a blood vessel is
damaged, platelets collect at the site of the injury and temporarily repair the tear.
Platelets then activate substances in plasma which form a clot and allow the wound to
heal.
What is
Apheresis?
Apheresis (ay-fur-ee-sis) is a special kind of
blood donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets.
During the apheresis procedure, all but the needed blood component are returned to the
donor.
Why is Blood
Separated?
Different patients need different types of blood
components, depending on their illness or injury. After you donate whole blood, the unit
is separated into platelets,
red cells and plasma in our laboratory.
Only two tablespoons of platelets are collected from a whole blood donation. Six whole
blood donations must be separated and pooled to provide a single platelet transfusion.
However, one apheresis donation provides enough platelets for one complete transfusion --
that's six times the amount collected from a whole blood donation.
Who Needs
Platelets?
Many lifesaving medical treatments require platelet
transfusions. Cancer patients, those receiving organ or marrow transplants, victims
of traumatic injuries, and patients undergoing open heart surgery require platelet
transfusions to survive.
Because platelets can be stored for only five days, the
need for platelet donations is vast and continuous.
Platelet transfusions are needed each year by thousands of
patients like these:
- Heart surgery patient
6 units
- Burn patient
20 units
- Organ transplant patient
30 units
- Marrow transplant
patient
120 units
Who Can Be an Apheresis Donor?
If you meet the requirements for donating blood,
you probably can give platelets. Depending on your platelet count, apheresis donors can donate up to once every two weeks. Apheresis donors must:
- be at least 17-years-old
- be in good health
- weigh at least 110 pounds
- not have taken aspirin or medication containing aspirin 48
hours prior to donatiing.
Are Apheresis Donations Safe?
Yes. Each donation is closely supervised throughout the
procedure by trained staff. Only a small percentage of your platelets are collected, so there
are no risks of bleeding problems. Your body will replace the donated platelets within 48
hours. The donation equipment (needle, tubing and collection bags) is sterile and is discarded
after every donation, making it virtually impossible to contract a disease from the
process.
How Does the
Procedure Work?
Blood is drawn from your arm through sterile tubing into a
centrifuge. The centrifuge spins the blood to separate the components, which vary in
weight and density. A port is opened along the spinning tubing at the level containing
platelets. These platelets are drawn up into a collection bag, while the
remaining blood components (red cells and
plasma) are returned to you.
How Long Does
it Take?
Depending on your weight and height, the actual apheresis donation
process will take approximately 70 minutes to two hours. You may watch television or
videotapes or dvds, listen to music, surf the Internet, or simply sit back and relax while helping to save lives.
How Can I
Become an Apheresis Donor?
Simply call our BCP apheresis coordinators at 1-800-707-8483 for more information or to make an appointment.
Our coordinators are in the call center:
Monday through Thursday from 9am to 8:30pm;
Friday from 9am to 3:30pm; and
Sunday from 3:30pm to 8:30pm.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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