9 Things to Know Before Donating Plasma

Where to Donate First

Before you know the requirements, you need to know where to donate plasma first. You can research for clinics that allow the service, and they will be more than glad to help you with everything – including the ways to get the requirements that you need. There are numerous donation centers around the country as well, and in that way, you will never lose a choice if you ever need to find a place to donate plasma.

Donation Requirements

First of all, you must know that only people of 18 years above are the ones allowed to donate plasma. A birth certificate is needed for that purpose. You also need a valid ID. You can also use a driver’s license if you wish to, and your employee ID will also do fine on the clinic’s end. Next is the social security number – which is extremely important for health organizations to acquire.

Aside from birth certificate and ID, you also need to provide an address where you live, and you must also have proof that you’re a resident of that address in question. As for the proof, you can provide a letter or billing statement that came to your address in the past 30 days. If you live in an apartment, a proof of your current lease is also valid.

Other Requirements for donating plasma

During your visit for the donation process, a health screening will be commenced. The professionals in the clinic will provide you medical questions to ensure that you’re healthy enough to provide the plasma that patients need. Here are the following standards that you should meet:

1. You must be in good health condition – meaning you must not be sick, and you must be capable of performing normal activities everyday.
2. Your veins on the arm must be in good health condition as it will be used to draw the blood.
3. You must weight at least 110 pounds to become fit for donation.
4. You must not applied any piercings on the ear and body, got any tattoos, as well as applied permanent makeup over the past 12 months.
5. Prior to donation, eating a well balanced meal is also needed.
6. No alcohol or any beverages with caffeine prior to donation.
7. Avoid foods that are rich in fat and cholesterol.
8. Focus on eating foods rich in protein and iron
9. Drink plenty of water before and after donation.

An Extra, But Optional Requirement

Some clinics also advise their donors to provide two sets of health screening, as well as medical test results in order to make sure that you’re a safe donor. Therefore, they advise you to do two sets of donations as well.

In this way, the clinics will see you as a reliable person who’s capable of supplying them the plasma that they need. There are some clinics who might provide this as an immediate requirement because they want to assure the safety of patients since providing plasma to them is an extremely crucial matter to help save lives. Otherwise, if you only did the donation once, it might not be used at all.

Plasma donation is an extremely important matter since it’s often used to save patients that might lack it due to major diseases. That’s why doctors want to make sure that a good supply of plasma is needed on their end. With these requirements being provided, they will see you as a responsible donor that’s capable of saving lives like they do.

References

http://biotestplasma.com/donation-process/donation-eligibility/

http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requirements

http://octapharmaplasma.com/donor/first-time-donors