Blood-product donation: which is the best type for AB+?

July 8, 2010 12:38 PM

My blood type is AB+. What's the best kind of blood-product donation I can do? And where in the DC area should I go to do so?

Long story short: my blood type is AB+. I know that as far as red blood cells go, that's not exactly useful. But for plasma, AB is the "universal donor," and for platelets, blood type doesn't really matter, right?

What makes more sense from the collector's point of view? Is it more efficient/cost-effective for them if I donate a unit of whole blood and they separate the parts afterward, or to if I donate plasma or platelets specifically through apheresis?

Bonus points if you can also point me to a reputable donation facility in DC or NOVA.

posted by lash to health & fitness (13 answers total)

Call the Red Cross. The folks at the DC donation center on E St. are amazingly nice and helpful, and they'll be able to tell you what they need most. Also, they have a great selection of post-donation snacks, unrivaled by other facilities I've visited.
posted by decathecting at 12:46 PM on July 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

I would start with the local Red Cross. I believe AB+ is pretty rare so they would probably be grateful for whatever blood products you're willing to donate.
posted by killy willy at 12:51 PM on July 8, 2010

I just saw this blood drive info on DCist.
posted by JoanArkham at 12:53 PM on July 8, 2010

I am AB+. When I lived in Seattle I got to donate to Fred Hutchinson who was doing a cancer research study and instead of getting some cookies, I got $60 (and cookies). They also only took... 400ml or something so that I could do it more frequently. It was sort of excellent. I do not know what the situation is near you but I saw the ad in the UW paper and did it the last few years I lived there. So maybe check with Johns Hopkins and ask them if they know of anything near you?
posted by jessamyn at 12:59 PM on July 8, 2010

The NIH Clinical Center (easily accessible via red line) is often in need of donors; check out http://www.cc.nih.gov/blooddonor/index.html for more info.
posted by Westringia F. at 1:00 PM on July 8, 2010

The Red Cross does do plasma collection, but the need for plasma is generally far less than the need for blood. There's a medical reason for this. Generally, when someone needs plasma, they don't need plasma as such, but one or two particular components of plasma. So when I donate my 880ml of plasma, once or twice a week, that gets fractionated out into all of its constituent components and combined with others' plasma to give usable amounts of particular compounds.

Actually, collecting blood plasma is used as the first step in a for-profit manufacturing process for a host of medicines and other treatments. I currently donate on a regular basis--up to twice a week--and unlike donating blood, you actually get compensation for donating plasma. They don't even ask your blood type, as they give you back your red blood cells and fractionate out the components of plasma to the extent that your blood type doesn't really matter. These for-profit operators supply sufficient amounts of plasma products that the Red Cross doesn't generally need to issue desperate pleas for plasma the way they frequently do for whole blood.

The two major plasma collection companies of which I'm aware are BioLife Plasma Services and CSL Plasma, both of which are national companies, but neither of which appears to have a donation center near DC.

This is actually typical: there is an attempt to avoid most major urban areas with higher than average concentrations of bloodborne diseases. As lower income people are both more likely to want to sit through the 90-ish minute procedure ($20 is $20)* and more likely to have diseases like hepatitis, it makes sense for them to focus on smaller cities with, terrible as it may sound, smaller numbers of minorities.

So if you really do want to donate plasma, feel free to get in touch with the Red Cross, but understand that the need is less serious than for whole blood, yours being unfortunately not terribly useful.

*There was actually a bar near where I went to college which was located just down the road from a plasma donation center that accepted the center's vouchers as currency. The image of people literally selling bodily fluids in exchange for booze always struck me as a bit unpleasant.
posted by valkyryn at 1:09 PM on July 8, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Red Cross HQ on E street has the best facilities and a fridge stocked with Coca-Cola, but the Red Cross charges hospitals for your donated blood, so if you're not OK with that you should look into donating directly to your nearest hospital. When I was living in the district, a number of the hospitals gave you a free pair of movie tickets in exchange for a pint of your good stuff. Anyway, call around to some of the DC hospitals and they'll give you the rundown. Good luck, and thanks for being a blood donor.
posted by The White Hat at 1:24 PM on July 8, 2010

Okay first, as a blood bank employee, let me clear up a few things. I am not trying to be snippy at all - I just encounter a lot of misconceptions and I feel obligated to set things straight. It's a very confusing industry.

the white hat: *all* non-profit blood banks charge the hospitals for blood products. There is a significant cost involved in the collection, testing and distribution of blood. Generally the blood is sold at a contracted rate, which is either at cost or with a very low mark-up. A hospital blood bank I suppose isn't going to charge itself directly for the blood, but the cost will be built in somewhere in their budget. Depending on the size of the hospital and its blood collection facilities, it may or may not be more cost-effective for them to collect their own blood.

decathecting: The Red Cross is not the only organization that collects blood in the United States. About half the blood is collected by independent, non-profit blood banks.

killy willy: AB+ is statistically less common, but since it's the "universal recipient," AB+ red cells are less useful in transfusion since only other AB+ donors can receive AB+ red cells.

valkyryn: There is a difference between for-profit "plasma centers" and non-profit blood banks who collect plasma. Same process (apheresis), different focus. Plasma centers have less restrictions, and will let you donate more often (potentially a little too often IMHO), because the blood is going to cosmetic companies, research or non-transfusion products . They can pay you because the plasma is not being transfused. Non-profit blood banks can't pay you because there is too much of a risk of people who are ineligible (HIV+, for example) lying on their intake interview. I wouldn't judge anyone who donates plasma for money (I've thought about it before when I've been really broke!), but just know where your blood is going.

The facts:

For anyone reading this who's not familiar with blood banking, basically your blood is made up of red cells, platelets and plasma (white cells too but they're not used as much in transfusion). Hospitals usually don't transfuse "whole blood" because usually patients just need one portion. So in the blood bank labs, they separate out the parts - that's why one whole blood donation can help up to three different patients!

A technology called apheresis lets you donate a larger amount of a single component. This is a wonderful advancement for patients and donors. When a patient receives a transfusion, there is always a potential for a reaction - this increases if the platelet or plasma donation is "random" (culled from multiple whole blood donations). So a apheresis unit is less problematic. Also, you can donate platelets and plasma more often than whole blood, because they replenish faster in your body (the reason you wait 2 months between whole blood donations is to let your red cells regenerate).

Lash, you are correct about your plasma - AB+ plasma is definitely worthwhile to a non-profit blood bank. We refer to it as "liquid gold." I'm not kidding! With platelets and plasma, the recipient/donor relationship is reversed - AB+ plasma is universal. Pretty much any recipient can use your plasma. Collected pasma is usually frozen (known as Fresh Frozen Plasma or FFP) so it lasts quite a while.

That said...there has been a little kink thrown in the recruitment and collection of plasma. There is a very rare but serious syndrome called TRALI that can occur in recipients - the patient can have a fatal reaction to antibodies in transfused plasma. Blood banks have to have some procedures in place to try to reduce the potential for TRALI. Many (including my company) will not accept plasma from any woman who has ever been pregnant, or anyone who has ever had a transfusion. This is because the antibodies are formed after exposure to "foreign" blood.

Sooo, lash, I see from your profile that you're female...if you've ever been preggers (even if you miscarried or whatever), you *may* not be able to donate plasma. That said, this is something fairly new that the industry is dealing with, and every organization has different procedures.

The bottom line is that it's super-duper-awesome that you not only want to donate blood, but you are interested in the different processes and products - I wish all donors were so educated! Summer really sucks for the blood supply (donations go way down) so this is such a good time to donate! if you want to donate blood to a non-profit blood bank, Red Cross or not, I recommend that you contact your local blood bank and ask to talk to a collections supervisor or manager, and ask them what they recommend you donate.
posted by radioamy at 5:37 PM on July 8, 2010 [6 favorites]

I think that frequent and regular donations are more important than type. In Australia, the Red Cross do try to get people to donate plasma and platelets on an alternating fortnightly pattern.
posted by dantodd at 7:41 PM on July 8, 2010

radioamy, I didn't mean to imply that the Red Cross is the only place to give blood. But the poster asked for specific recommendations in the DC area, and after donating at a few different places, I recommend that particular branch of the Red Cross for their friendly, skilled employees and good snacks.
posted by decathecting at 8:07 PM on July 8, 2010

radioamy said "Lash, you are correct about your plasma - AB+ plasma is definitely worthwhile to a non-profit blood bank. We refer to it as "liquid gold." I'm not kidding! With platelets and plasma, the recipient/donor relationship is reversed - AB+ plasma is universal. Pretty much any recipient can use your plasma."

I'm AB+ and I'm quite popular at the local Red Cross center. They call me regularly to remind me to come in for apheresis. It takes a bit longer than a regular blood donation (they take your blood out, remove the plasma, then return it to your other arm), but they have videos available and make it as pleasant of an experience as possible.
posted by caroljean63 at 8:12 PM on July 8, 2010

caroljean63 - where do you live? New technology allows the draw/return in one tube, so you only need one arm. You can scratch your own nose (or whatever) while donating!

decathecting - didn't mean to jump atcha, I'm just very sensitive about ARC because people always think we're affiliated with them! However it looks like they might be the only non-hospital option in DC. And good snacks make everything better!
posted by radioamy at 10:51 AM on July 9, 2010

I called up one of the local blood banks, and they said they are in the middle of a platelet shortage. I'm scheduled to donate tomorrow. Beyond that, I'll plan on regularly donating plasma, unless they say they need platelets more (never been preggers or had a transfusion, so plasma will be A-OK).

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. Especially radioamy for being so thorough! You were very helpful.
posted by lash at 2:28 PM on July 9, 2010