If you are considering blood donation, you will need to find a blood bank or a mobile blood donation site that will accept your blood. Often a blood drive in your area is an excellent place to donate, and sometimes they even offer incentives like a gift or a gift card that you can use in local stores in return for their blood.
Finding A Donation Location
Most organizations that collect blood will advertise locally and online if they have a blood drive in your area. If there are not current blood drives going on, you may need to research the blood banks near you and call them to discuss donations and where you need to go to give blood. Often the blood bank will have an office location where you can give blood, but you may need to make an appointment, so be sure to call ahead and see if they can accommodate your schedule. If you can call a few days in advance, you will often find it easier to get a donation time that will work for you, and you may be able to fill out the documents they need online and submit them to speed up the process when you arrive at the blood bank.
Eligibility To Donate
Most adults over the age of eighteen are eligible to donate blood, and in some states, you can donate blood at sixteen with the consent of a parent or guardian. Typically you will need to have not donated blood in the last sixty days, and you must be in good health when you arrive at the donation site. If you have been sick recently or are not feeling well the day you are scheduled to go for blood donation, you will need to reschedule and come back when you feel better. When you arrive for blood donation, the screening process will include taking your temperature and an intake questionnaire that will determine if you can give blood that day.
Most blood banks require the person donating blood to be at least one hundred and ten pounds to donate, and even those with chronic conditions can be eligible to donate if their condition is under control and does not make the blood they are donating unusable.
Plasma and Other Donations
Many blood banks will take donations of whole blood as well as plasma and platelets. The requirements for these donations are often different than for whole blood donation, so you will need to check with the blood bank to determine if you are eligible to donate these if you are considering and of these donations.
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