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Patients who are scheduled for elective surgery and are
medically eligible may be able to give their own blood.
Giving blood for your own use is called an autologous
donation.
Autologous blood donations are specially tagged and bar
coded with information about the patient/donor’s
hospital, date of surgery, and other information
necessary to deliver that blood to the patient/donor
when needed.
Before donating, autologous donors must follow a simple
protocol.
Central Blood Bank will schedule the patient/donor to
donate one unit of blood at a time. We recommend waiting
seven days between donations if more than one unit of
blood is ordered. Allow at least one hour for each
donation.
At the time of the donation, the patient/donor must
bring the prescription and a positive form of
identification such as a driver’s license, Brighten Life
personalized Donor ID card, military ID, or a government
issued ID card. The patient/donor will be required to
read and sign a medical history form and a consent form.
During the mini-physical, we will check temperature,
pulse, hemoglobin, and blood pressure. We will draw and
test a drop of blood to ensure the patient/donor has
enough iron-carrying red blood cells to safely donate
blood.
A special label will be prepared containing the name of
the patient/donor, birth date, and name of the hospital
performing the procedure. A similar label will be
applied if the autologous patient/donor donates multiple
times.
Central Blood Bank performs a series of tests on each
donation to ensure its safety. Any positive test results
will be reported to the donor’s physician.
Advantages of Autologous Donations
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Prevents allergic reactions that are possible from
receiving other donors’ blood
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Helps the body stimulate the production of red blood
cells
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Provides an acceptable alternative to transfusion for
some members of religious groups opposed to receiving
blood from another person
Donor Qualifications
Donors must be at least 17 years of age or older to
donate without parental consent. Donors 16 years old or
younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at
each donation.
Certain medical conditions may keep patient/donors from
making autologous donations. However, many of the
qualifications for donating to the community blood
supply do not apply for autologous donations. Questions
about eligibility can be directed to Central Blood
Bank’s Special Donations Department at 412-209-7020, or
toll free at 1-800-310-9552.
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Special
Donations Office Hours:
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Monday-Friday |
8:00 am –
4:00 pm |
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