Blood donation question - General Health Message Board

rainbowdawn · 12-04-2003, 03:13 PM

What can anyone tell me about donating two units of "blood plasma," as opposed to just donating one unit of whole blood? The Red Cross said it would take longer for the process to happen and actual fluid from my body would leave less volume missing, but they would get two units instead of one from each donor. Is this a good safe thing to do or is it something that should be monitored before I do it?

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Knute · 12-04-2003, 06:02 PM

There are many uses for the individual components of whole blood. Using centrifuge separation equipment, they can only harvest plasma, or only harvest red cells. The remaining part goes back to the donor, along with a small amount of saline solution to replace the total volume.
That is my understanding of the process.
I have been giving "Dual Red Cell" donations in recent years. They get two usable units of red cells. Have to wait 16 weeks between each donation.
Since I have a lot of scar tissue built up (112 units donated) due to needle insertions, this is cutting the future punctures by half.