Blood is a mixture of red cells, white cells, plasma, platelets, water and more.
Platelets are needed for patients suffering from trauma and serious health problems such as leukemia, cancer, aplastic anemia, open-heart surgery and bone marrow transplants. The platelet transfusions mean the difference between life and death for those very ill individuals. Donors with visible veins, type A blood, and an above average amount of platelets in their blood make the best apheresis donors. Those that are CMV antibody negative are special. With plateletpheresis, a small amount of blood is drawn from your arm into a blood cell separator.