Donate Blood and Platelets - I did today!

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) Kraft Family Blood Donor Center and the Brigham and Women's Hospital's (BWH) Blood Donor Center are members of the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine (JPTM). Together these centers provide essential blood products to patients cared for in both institutions. The Kraft Center collects platelets; the BWH Donor Center collects whole blood and red cells. The program's research and quality standards ensure the safety of the more than 60,000 transfusions performed annually at their patient care facilities.

Transfusions of blood and platelets are critical to helping patients return to health. There is no substitute for volunteer donors; patients count on people like you to help.Blood is made of four components: platelets, plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells. The platelet component is necessary to control bleeding. Patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, for example, are unable to produce enough platelets. Without platelet transfusion, life-threatening hemorrhages could result.

Plan to spend about two hours at the donor center. When you arrive, you will complete a confidential screening about your medical and travel history. Platelets are collected by a procedure called apheresis (a-far-EE-sis). During this process, a machine collecting blood from one arm separates your platelets from the other blood components, which are returned to you. The donation takes about 90 minutes during which time you can enjoy a variety of entertainment from our multimedia library on a personal TV screen, read about monthly happenings in the center's newsletter, or simply sit back and relax.

Safety is our priority; all materials used are new for each donor and then discarded. After the donation, you will be asked to remain in the donor center for a brief period of rest, during which time we invite you to relax and enjoy some refreshments.

Eligibility
You are eligible to donate platelets every two weeks (up to 24 times a year), if you:
are at least 17 years old; weigh at least 110 pounds; are in good health; are free of aspirin or products containing aspirin (e.g., ibuprofen, Advil, naproxen, Motrin, and Aleve) for 36 hours beforehand; and are free of antibiotics and dental cleaning for 48 hours beforehand.

You will be unable to donate if:
you have had a tattoo or piercing within the last 12 months; you are pregnant, or are trying to become pregnant; or you have traveled to a malarial risk country. There are other travel, medical conditions, and medications that may make you ineligible to donate. Please feel free to contact the donor center with any questions you have about your eligibility.

Appointments
You can make an appointment to donate platelets during the hours listed below for the Kraft Center.

For first time donors:
Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.Friday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-12 p.m.

Regular hours:
Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.Friday, 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m.Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

To schedule an appointment or for more information, please call (617) 632-3206, or e-mail us at joseph_powell@dfci.harvard.edu.