GbreadMan
Content Type
Store
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Events
Frequently Asked Questions
Gallery
Downloads
Glossary
Links Directory
Questions
Jobs
Vendors
Everything posted by GbreadMan
-
I once saw a plateletpheresis donor have a petit-mal seizure. The phlebotomists were all around him constantly asking him to cough while he started into space for several minutes (or what seemed like several minutes). Is this common?
-
Warming up a cold apheresis donor
GbreadMan replied to Deb's topic in Donor Services and Donor Recruitment
I get cold, too, and the draw pressure drops like a rock (I suppose I'm a high-maintenance donor). However, I was worried that exercise before donation will activate the platelets and make them less effective (I have heard that ADP will cause platelet activation in the bloodstream). -
I talked to NJBS (a subsidiary of New York Blood Center) and they said they almost never bring apheresis (platelet) machines on the road, especially on bloodmobile buses. They said the bouncing and shocks cause problems with the equipment and the centrifuge. However, I was informed that a few buses in the Manhattan area do have Alyx double-red cell machines. The Blood Center of New Jersey (a separate blood donor company) says they require a whole blood donation before apheresis can be performed. BCNJ is attempting to get an apheresis station on their newer bloodmobiles. I wish these apheresis problems could be addressed because there isn't a platelet donation center within 50 miles of my location and I am B+ with a high platelet count. They've said they want my platelets more than my whole blood but that can't happen with a hundred mile round trip drive.
-
How to get more donors!
GbreadMan replied to chocopinipig's topic in Donor Services and Donor Recruitment
I have been a platelet donor in the past in the NY/NJ area, but none of the drives bring their platelet equipment with them. The closest platelet donation center is 50 miles away (100 mile round-trip) so that is not an option unless I'm in the area for some other reason. Most of these blood centers have regularly-scheduled whole-blood drives within 10 miles of me. Yet I attempt to go online or call them to schedule platelets at these drives and they never have platelet equipment available. I don't know if it's because the equipment is so fragile that it can't withstand the trip or what (one of the phlebotomists said the machine can make a real mess when it malfunctions). I can give platelets once a week; I can only give whole blood 4 or 5 times a year, yet all the blood centers here frustratingly complain that, "we need more platelet donors". The bottom line is the logistics make it impossible to give platelets.