Anyone who is in good health, is at least 17 years old and weighs at least 110 pounds may donate Blood every 56 days. Giving Blood will not decrease your strength. Whole Blood can be donated as often as every 56 days, plasma every 4 weeks, and platelets 24 times a year. Cancer, transplant and trauma patients and people undergoing open-heart surgery require Platelet transfusions to survive. Premature infants, children being treated for cancer, and children having heart surgery need Blood and platelets from donors of all types.
Blood transfusions are critical for patients suffering from anemia.
Apheresis selective Blood donation that allows a donor to give specific Blood components, such as platelets. Nine of these are for infectious diseases. Other tests are needed, but, are cost prohibitive and therefore not conducted. Approximately 95 percent of Blood samples are fully tested within 17 hours of arrival at the testing laboratory. In the U. S., for some Blood centers, if testing indicates that a unit of Blood may pose a threat to a patient, that Blood is destroyed.