Giving Blood

Why Give Blood?

Every two seconds, someone somewhere needs blood.  One of every seven people who enter the hospital will need blood.  That person may be you, your loved one, friend or co-worker.  With all the wonderful advances in modern medicine, there still is NO substitute for human blood.  The blood that helps patients comes only from caring people who volunteer to help others by donating their life-saving blood.

In the short time it took to read the above paragraph, 11 people needed blood.

Will you help?  Schedule your donation here.

Who Can Give?

Anyone age 16 or older who meets minimum height and weight requirements and is in good health can donate blood.

Sixteen-year-olds must submit a permission form signed by a parent or guardian. 

Some people may be temporarily or permanently prevented from donating blood due to certain health conditions.  If you have a question about your eligibility to donate blood, contact your local LifeShare office.

How To Give Blood

Your voluntary blood donation helps meet the needs of patients in local medical facilities.

When you register, LifeShare staff will recommend a donation procedure that is best suited to your blood type and current patient needs.

You may be asked to donate different blood components each time you give.

During your donation, you will be attended by trained specialists.

Whole Blood

The most frequently donated blood product is whole blood, which can help up to three patients with a single donation.  Anyone who qualifies to give blood may be a whole blood donor, and may give one unit of blood every 56 days.

A whole blood donation process takes about 45-60 minutes, including registration, screening, and donation.  The actual donation takes about 10-15 minutes.

Schedule your whole blood donation now. 

Automated Collections

When you donate via automated collections, only the needed blood components are retained.  The best part about automated donation is that you know you are giving the blood component most needed for patients.

During automated collections, we can collect various combinations of blood components:

• Red cells, used in the treatment of surgery, trauma, cancer and severe anemia patients.
• Plasma, used in the treatment of burn and trauma patients.
• Platelets, used in the treatment of transplant and chemotherapy patients.

There are several automated donation procedures.  You may be asked to give a different type of apheresis donation each type you give, based upon current needs. 

Automated donation procedures are safe.  While you donate, you can watch television or videos, listen to music, and in some LifeShare locations, you can even surf the web.