Transfusion medicine handbook

2. Collection, Testing and Processing of Blood Donation

2.1 Blood donors

Blood donors are essential to NZBS and the national blood supply. Over 1000 donations are needed each working day to meet the country’s transfusion needs and the supply of plasma for the manufacture of fractionated products. A great debt is therefore owed to the many volunteer donors who so willingly help in this way.

There are five categories of blood donation:

• Whole blood donation where a single unit of blood is collected. Whole blood donors usually give about 470 mL of blood (with an additional 30 mL taken for routine testing) and can donate up to four times per year.
• Apheresis donation where plasma, platelets or white cells are specifically collected from the donor’s whole blood using a machine known as a cell-separator. Once these components are harvested, the donor’s red cells are usually returned to them. Apheresis donors can donate more frequently than whole blood donors and as often as every two weeks.
• Pre-operative autologous donation where blood components are collected from patients for transfusion to themselves during elective surgery. Refer to Section 8.1: Autologous Blood Collection and Transfusion for further information.
• Directed donation where a donor is donating for a specific recipient for a non-medical reason.
• Designated donation where NZBS identifies donors to provide blood components for recipients with rare blood types, or with red cell or platelet antibodies.