It is quite safe for the donor. Apheresis donation takes about two hours. Donors can watch a movie, talk, nap, or read during the process. The body replaces the donated cells in just a few days. The donation does not significantly decrease the number of platelets in the donor's blood.
Healthy people have a large surplus of platelets.
Organ transplant recipients, cancer and leukemia patients, and patients with blood disorders benefit from apheresis blood components. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments destroy both diseased and healthy cells, so cancer patients often need transfusions to prevent bleeding or fight infection. During treatment, they can become resistant to the tissue antigen in the blood they receive. Apheresis donors are tissue typed, and called when components are needed for a patient with a compatible blood type. Increasingly, hospitals are requesting apheresis-derived platelets regardless of tissue type because the recipient is exposed to a much lower risk.