I’ve been getting calls from blood drives asking me to donate plasma or platelets. I haven’t donated either so I’m looking for information.
Which is more useful?
Which is more difficult to donate?
Are there side effects that the organizations aren’t mentioning?
I donate platelets every 4 weeks. It takes about three hours from beginning to end, but because I’m getting most of my blood volume back after they separate the platelets, I can donate more frequently than if I donated whole blood. It appears that the Red Cross has the same interval between donations for platelets and plasma (2 weeks), and their rewards system offers the same level of rewards for both.
I have never donated plasma, but I would assume the time and side effects are similar to a platelet donation. The donation takes time. If you do a single needle donation, it takes a bit longer than if you do a two needle procedure (one in each arm). You may get cold, because after separating your blood and taking what they want, the rest of it comes back to you but it’s cooled a bit. Your lips may tingle from something they put into the return line (citric acid? I don’t remember, TBH), and they’ll offer you calcium (in the form of Tums) to alleviate that. If you do the two-needle process, your arms will be useless to you for the duration, and your nose or head will itch and you’ll have to ask the staff to scratch it.
I have asked at my local donor center (a Red Cross outfit) whether they’d prefer platelets, plasma, or whole blood, and they hem and haw, saying they appreciate any and all donations. So not helpful WRT which is more useful.
I’ve donated 42+gallons of platelets over my adulthood, at my community nonprofit blood bank. I was always told the platelets were better because it was a time-consuming process and few people do it. Double red blood cells being the next most preferred.
I know that certain blood types are better for certain donations. But I’m A negative and everybody seems to be telling me that’s a good type for the donation they’re soliciting.
Two things interfere with getting an easy, accurate answer for that. One, which one they need most probably changes over time depending on accidents and such. And, two, blood banks share. So if one bank is low on a blood product, it may be able to send out for it.
And that’s a third confounder. A bank may be low on one product in one blood type and oversupplied for that product in another type.
Plasma, because you can use it to make plasma TV screens.
(ducking and running)
Yeah, I’ve asked twice which they prefer, and their hesitance to give me an answer suggested to me that they want me to donate whatever, as long as I’m a regular donor and they prefer a steady supply of whatever blood product I donate so they can bank on it (heh), rather than have me fanny about with it, changing the product willy nilly. They know they’re going to get my platelets every four weeks, so there’s probably value in the predictability of that supply, rather than have me donate platelets this time, then plasma the next, then power reds (whatever that is) the following month.
Before I started donating platelets - and before the local center was taken over by the Red Cross - the blood bank had a client that had a patient for whom I was a pretty rare match for whole blood. Supposedly, this kid needed blood regularly, and had a few dozen people in the region on whose blood he relied, so the blood bank actively discouraged me from platelet donations.
I hate those things. When they leak, they attract albino vampires.
Can I jump on this thread to ask a related question? If you take medication that bars you from giving blood, can you still give platelets? Plasma?
See, this is what I wanted. A nice simple answer I can understand.
Short answer? Unless you have been deferred recently, there’s a good chance you can donate-far fewer medications and conditions are a barrier now than used to be. Blood banks have some variance on what those might be so the best thing to do is to go on line and look at their specific exclusions. You can always call and ask them directly if on-line searches aren’t for you.
My local blood bank’s exclusions, for an example:
Even if you can’t donate you can still be a hero and volunteer to make it possible to meet your community’s blood product needs, so consider that please.
Donating platelets is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done as a volunteer.
See, for me, it’s been the most consistently draining.
Check your local blood bank’s website and it will probably have a list of meds, but the Red Cross’ list is for all donations, whole or components. Your local blood bank may differ. I take a few meds (mostly for heart-related issues), but the only one I need to be careful about is the children’s aspirin I take daily. They ask that you don’t take anything with aspirin in it for 48 hours before, because the aspirin thins the blood and slows clotting.
I take a biologic, which affects my immune system. I assume that’s a no-no for whole blood, but maybe OK for platelets or plasma.
I’ve looked around for my specific medication, but it’s never on any list.
I’m a regular platelet donor, and I almost always donate plasma at the same time: platelets go into one bag (three, actually), plasma into another bag, and red blood cells back in my other arm. I sign up to donate platelets, and they ask me in the screening if I want to do plasma as well. Platelets can be donated every 7 days (with a max of 24 times/year), but plasma is only every 4 weeks, so I skip the plasma part if I’m in sooner than that.
From the Red Cross FAQs:
Can I donate plasma at the same time as platelets?
Yes, you can donate platelets and plasma at the same time! While each platelet donation does include a small amount of plasma to help store platelets, some platelet donations may also include a separate unit or two of plasma for hospital patients. That’s called a platelet donation with concurrent plasma and it may be given once every 28 days. You can continue to give platelets at your preferred frequency - many donors find a consistent every-other-week appointment works best for them. During health history, staff evaluate each platelet donor’s recent donation data to determine if that day’s platelet donation will also include concurrent plasma. At your next platelet donation, ask your phlebotomist if you’ll be able to donate platelets and concurrent plasma together that day!
@ricepad, I’d be curious if any facility can handle concurrent donations. You might ask next time you’re there.
I don’t see this part addressed yet. I’ve never done a plasma-only donation, but it uses the same general process as platelets: blood is removed, spun in a centrifuge to remove the desired component, and returned to your arm. I think platelets can take a little longer depending on how many units you’re donating, but I don’t think it’s enough to say one is more difficult than the other.
I don’t feel any differently after donating platelets alone vs plasma too. It’s not like whole blood donation where you might feel dizzy and tired.
Can’t let this go unacknowledged. Bravo.
Never heard of concurrent donations, and they’ve never asked me if I wanted to, either. I’ll ask at my next donation, especially since I’m on a 28-day cycle anyway. Thanks!
I do concurrent donations when I can, which is between 1/3rd and 1/2 of my platelet donations. At my local blood center, only some of the machines can do concurrent donations; they try to schedule them with people who are eligible to donate concurrently any particular day, then ask them day-of if they want to donate both. I think it takes a little longer than platelet-only - at least, they ask if I have time if I signal my willingness to donate both at once.
As far as which is better - really, any donation is good, but they were really happy when I started donating platelets vs. whole blood. I am of a size that I can donate three units of platelets at a time, and between that and my blood type and my flexible schedule that allows me to spend two hours in a chair regularly, I can do the most good by giving platelets.
Former Medical Technologist here. I used to work in hospital Blood Banks, among other departments. Both plasma and platelets are not given as often as packed red blood cells, but when they are given, it is absolutely a necessity. In my experience, I dispensed units of plasma more often than platelets, but we always had platelets on hand. If any unit of red cells or platelets was within a couple of days of expiration, we would ship them back to the regional Red Cross depot and they would re-distribute them to facilities that would use them. Plasma has a longer shelf life because it is frozen shortly after collection. So, donate what you can or want, and it will be used to help save a life* or improve someone’s condition.
*I have a war story about helping save a life one day when I was in the Blood Bank, but that’s for another thread.
Okay, so I went in for a donation yesterday. I signed up for a platelet donation but I ended up donating plasma as well. Which I guess makes the OP moot.
How would I describe it? Not going to lie; it was unpleasant. I did not like having to sit in a chair for two hours without being able to move my arms. I had hoped I would be able to move around enough to be able to read but they said no.
That said, they did set me up with a tv that had netflix. So I spent the time re-watching Jumanji.
The procedure went quicker than I had anticipated. I had been told it would be three hours but I was done in a little over ninety minutes.
I did not experience any side effects or after effects.
I’ll go back and do it again because I know it’s a good thing to do. Next time I’ll plan ahead on what movie I want to watch.