So you want to know what it’s like to donate platelets instead of whole blood? Welcome!

If not, or if you hate needles, here’s a pretty bird.

First, why do I donate? Because there is no artificial blood or platelets. If a human needs blood, for surgery, for treatment, dealing with cancer or sickle cell anemia, anything…those blood products need to come from another human. It’s the right thing to do for my fellow humans and I feel good about helping others.

I’ve been donating platelets with the Red Cross since 2014 with over 130 units being sucked from my veins (technically inaccurate: my heart pumps the blood to the machine but that doesn’t sound as cool as “sucked from my veins”). I can only speak to my experience donating with them. Take it for what it’s worth.

Let’s break down the process. There are four main phases: Setting An Appointment, Intake, Donation, Everything Else.

If you have question, the Red Cross Donation FAQ is here.

Setting An Appointment

Before anything else, you need to make an appointment, Because the platelet process uses a fancy machine (called an apheresis machine) donation times aren’t offered at each location or at all times.

You can make an appointment either on the website or the app or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. Put in your zip code and you’ll see options around you with dates and times. The process takes about 3 hours in total and you will feel more drained than a regular whole blood donation, so I suggest picking a time later in the day if you can. They will tell you not to workout or lift heavy things for 24 hours after, plan accordingly.

Now that you are in the Red Cross Blood system, you’ll have a donor number and, if you use the app, the ability to add your donor card to your digital wallet, which is handy when you check in.

Rapid Pass

A day or two before your appointment you should get a notification to fill out a Rapid Pass. There are a passel of health questions the blood service wants to ask you and you can either do it at your intake or before at home.

The website for the Rapid Pass will spit out a QR code when you’re done that you can either email to yourself, screenshot or print out.

If you have questions about the questions, just skip this step for your first time and ask the intake person during your appointment. There are some conditions and situations (like if you just came back from a malaria zone recently) that will disqualify you, but many are time-based, meaning you can come back after X number of months.

I had this happen after a trip abroad disqualified me for three months.

After your first visit and being made aware of the questions, the Rapid Pass saves time and takes two minutes tops to complete on your phone or computer.

Intake

My local donation site has a fancy check in process that uses your driver’s license or the donor ID card the Red Cross issued you in the app.

You scan either item and then confirm your appointment. Easy!

If you did’t complete the Rapid Pass, there are materials to read about drug exclusions and health info. You will be asked later if you read the material (which is the first thing you see when filling out the Rapid Pass).

Have a seat and wait for your name to be called. I’ve started having a bite to eat (mini-Oreos being my guilty indulgence when donating) and a bottle of water before I go in. Use the bathroom if you need to, you’ll be in the chair for a while.

Checking Your Vitals

One of the Red Cross workers will take you into a private setting to check your vitals and asks a few questions. The vitals checks include your heat rate, blood pressure, temperature and hemoglobin count.

Normally that last one is a finger prick and a drop of blood that goes into a machine to make sure you’re hemoglobin levels are up to snuff. Unless you are sick (never donate if you feel unwell) or have a normally low hemoglobin level, you will be fine. I’ve never been disqualified on these grounds.

I say ‘normally’ because times are changing! My local Red Cross is trying a new device that clamps loosely around my thumb and does not need to prick me to get the reading! This is appreciated but not available everywhere yet.

The other vitals are also now taken in an automated fashion with the temperature being a forehead scan. Nothing invasive.

Into The Chair

It’s now time to sit/lay in the chair and make your donation!

I have found the ‘zero-g’ chairs to be comfortable for the duration of the donation. At my local donation center they also have individual screens and streaming services for your enjoyment. It used to be DVDs, times are changing! Sometimes I’ll bring my AirPods and listen to an audiobook, as pictured below.

With your show/movie picked (pick something around 1:45 long) the phlebotomist will prep the machine then prep you.

Ask questions if you have any! I’m curious about machines and it’s a bit fascinating to me how it works.

The phlebotomist will then check your veins, sometimes making marks to find them. Most of us use a two needle process, meaning we get a needle in each arm; one to draw the blood and one to return it. Depending on your donation center and your veins, you might have a dual-purpose needle that will both draw and return in just one arm.

You will be fitted with automated blood pressure cuffs and the tech will swab each arm’s injection site with alcohol; normal poking-with-a-needle stuff.

They then insert one line in one arm and then another in the other. There is a small prick when the needles are inserted and I don’t enjoy it, but it is minor and over with. Some techs are better than others. When inserted correctly, the needles just feel ‘there’. Not painful, but you’re not going to forget something is in your arm.

Now What?

Once they confirmed the needles are all good, you’re off to the races!

Meaning, you have nothing to do while everything is running. At first the tech will fill a few (many?) vials the Red Cross uses for testing your blood then the machine sets to work separating our your platelets and possibly plasma (concurrent plasma donation depends on a few factors and they should let you know if you will be donating both if eligible) and then returning the rest of your blood to you.

The room you’re in will likely be cool as many medial facilities are. Ask for a blanket if you get cold. I always get two (one for my legs and one for my top). Again, my donation site is pretty nice and now has a blanket heater! It is heaven to get a warmed blanket while donating.

Feel free to ask the tech how long the donation will be. The machine will give an initial guess that is pretty close, within 5-10 minutes of what to expect. My appointments have lasted from 1:20-3 hours. It varies.

Sit back and enjoy your movie!

Done!

When the machine is almost done it gives a 2-minute warning, for you football fans.

When it is all done, the tech will remove the needles one at a time (I have not felt much pain at all upon removal), massage your arm a little and then apply gauze to hold a bandaid in place. They will let you know when you can take off the wraps and bandaid.

You will get after-donation instructions on a printed sheet along with a sticker that has a unique visit identifier. If you feel ill in the next 24 hours, there is a number to call so you can let them know (don’t want to pass on a virus that might not have shown symptoms while you donated).

Everything Else

After the donation, you’re asked to hang out in the waiting area for 15 minutes to make sure you are solid enough to leave. They have cookies and snacks and water and juice. Sugary stuff to help your system that has been depleted over the last two hours or so.

Drink lots of water and if you don’t feel well, let someone know.

Random Items

I get a bit sneezy when donating but was recently told taking in extra calcium (having a glass of milk will do) before a donation helps with that. Sometimes I’ll get a tingle in my fingers and they have offered up Tums while I donated because evidently the sodium helps.

After any donation I’m feeling slightly out of it. Not totally, like I need to lay down the rest of the day, but I’ve learned I don’t get a lot of work done. So I’ve started making donations later in the day so I’m closer to bed time. After a night’s rest, I’m good as new the next day.

The Red Cross has been good about email following ups that will show where my blood goes (generally which hospitals or medical centers) and often an email thank you. This can be hit and miss and sometimes I don’t get a report until weeks later, even though platelets need to be used within five days of draw.

They often offer gifts when you donate, depending on need and what they have. I have seven shirts and a bumper sticker and other things given out over the years. You can often get gift cards in email from $10-$50. Let’s face it, the Red Cross gets paid for your blood products and that helps fund other Red Cross actives; it’s a business, so offering you something seems okay to me.

I donate because people need it and there are many aspects of the services that Red Cross offers that I agree with and support, while acknowledging they have fallen short in the past with some types of operations (I’ve heard negative first-hand comments from people here in LA that were in Red Cross shelters, unfortunately).

You might find other blood service companies that you prefer and many will pay you out-right for your blood and platelets and plasma. Go for it!

Conclusion

I hope this rundown of the platelet donation process has been helpful. I can’t cover everything in one post so if you have questions, please ask in the comments. Or email me, I’m happy to help.

It’s not a complicated process and to be totally honest, I don’t enjoy donating platelets, at least the physical part. It takes time and I feel off afterward and I don’t like the prick of needles. It’s something that other humans need and it gets me out of my comfort zone for a bit. It is better than the dentist. 🙂

But I’ve had family members need blood products like platelets in the past. It’s because other people donated their own blood that my family benefitted and I want to keep that cycle going for others.