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During the apheresis donation, we draw blood from the
donor’s arm and send it through sterile tubing into a
cell-separator machine. The machine spins the blood to
separate the needed component, and then returns the
remaining components to the donor in the same arm.
Apheresis donations are completely safe. The needle,
tubing, and collection bag in the machine are sterile
and discarded after each donation. Trained staff closely
supervises the procedure, observing and monitoring the
donor throughout the process.
Donation times vary depending on the apheresis donation
type selected. The total process, including registration
and medical history interview, ranges from approximately
one hour for a double red blood cell procedure or plasma
donation, to approximately two hours for a platelet
donation. Donors can watch television or videos during
the donation process. The three most common types of
apheresis donations are double red blood cell,
platelets, and
plasma.
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