Pheresis (pronounced fur-ee-sis) comes from a Greek word meaning to take away or to separate. When you donate whole blood, your gift is separated in its components --- red cells, platelets, and plasma. Each meets a different and very important medical need.  When you make a apheresis donation, you give only one part of the blood, most often platelets, but sometimes granulocytes, infection-fighting white cells.

Platelets are cell fragments in the bloodstream that enable blood to clot. Cancer and chemotherapy treatments can affect the body's ability to produce platelets. Patients with leukemia, aplastic anemia, those receiving chemotherapy or undergoing bone marrow transplants must rely on platelets donated by healthy volunteers to prevent bleeding episodes that can be life-threatening.  

Once donated, this living gift must be transfused within five days. To assure that platelets are always available, and that each patient will receive the platelets that are the best match, platelet donations are needed seven days-a-week. On occasion, donors are also needed to give plasma or infection-fighting white cells called granulocytes.

How To Give This Special Gift

• First, call us at 1-800-GIVE LIFE and talk with one of our trained pheresis staff.
• Next, we'll schedule an appointment for you at one of our donor sites.  You'll want to set aside three hours for the whole process -- registration, health history, the donation, refreshments, and checking out. You can schedule your appointment early in the morning, in the evening or on the weekend.
• The donation itself takes approximately one and a half to two hours and fifteen minutes. During this time, you can sit back in a specially contoured chair, relax, watch movies or listen to music.  While you relax, a little of your blood, less than one pint at a time, is drawn from your arm   and passed through a highly sophisticated cell-separating machine which collects the  platelets and returns the rest to you. Your blood never touches the machine. Your blood passes through a sterile, disposable kit that is used once --- for you --- and discarded.
• After the donation you can resume your normal activities, but avoid heavy lifting or strenuous exercise that day.

Safety Is Our #1 Priority

• You cannot get AIDS from making a donation.
• Does it hurt? Only for a second. As in  whole blood donation, after the initial insertion of the needle, there is no discomfort.
• It is safe to donate platelets? Healthy people have an ample supply of platelets and your body begins to replace platelets immediately.