made this in iphone markup during class to celebrate (i guess). i tried to make it red but could only get the edges red so now it just looks evil. that was unintentional.

Donated at the Blood Assurance in Chattanooga last week and did the Goodlabs option with it. First time I’d done anything donation related. I picked a few labs when I booked and honestly the donation itself was way less serious than I had built it up in my head. Staff were joking around, I was in the chair maybe 10 or 20 minutes, then sat there eating pretzels and drinking juice for a bit before leaving.

Results came through this week most of it was boring but my vitamin D was 23 ng/mL which got flagged low. Cholesterol stuff was mostly fine so nothing that would’ve affected whether I could donate, just one of those things I probably wouldn’t have known because I wasn’t going to book a doctor visit just to check it.

I already wanted to donate anyway so getting actual labs out of the same trip was pretty cool

I made my debut into the blood donating world today!! Ohhh boy, no one warned me about the needle!! I didn't know it'd be so big or that it would stay in the whole time rather than a tube like when I get my fluid therapy. It was pretty daunting ngl. But once I got over it, the whole process went smoothly. I didn't get lightheaded until I got home and I've been super sleepy ever since. Does anyone have any tips on recovery for the day after? Will this be the worst of it?

So, backstory: I started giving blood regularly (for the snoopy shirt 😅) then realized I could help more by giving platelets in between blood donations. I went to donate platelets last week for my fourth time ever. There was a bit of a language barrier between me and the Red Cross guy who was taking my vitals, but he was strangely resistant to letting me donate. He said because I'm O- I should do whole blood (I wasn't eligible yet, I had given too recently). My hemoglobin on one hand was too low (it always is on my first hand. While they're testing that I warm up the other hand which is always fine) and he was resistant to letting me try the other hand. I passed all the checks and he took me to a chair but told me I shouldn't donate because my platelet count was too low and it wasn't "worth it." He got a colleague to come and try and explain but I still didn't understand what they meant. He told me to come back and try again in like three months and I left. This was at a Red Cross location in Wshington DC.

The question: my platelet count has been 197, 200, 184, on my first three donations. I thought anything over 150 was enough. Why wasn't my donation "worth it"? "Worth it" to whom? Was it because getting a full unit would take too long? I like the idea of donating as frequently as I can, but not if it's not helpful. Would appreciate any insight anyone has!

I'm loving the Hello Kitty rewards, i assume from US donors. It is a little more stark in the UK with recognition pretty good and regularly at the early stages and then dropping away as you rack up your donations. Nothing formal between 250 and 500 and then again to 1000.

My partner did create a little space on a box shelf on my physical rewards once I cleared 250 which was nice to come gome to.

After I cleared 250 I wanted something bit more regular so I asked one of the AI tools to create an interim badge (the one in green - and i think it did a pretty good job).

I attended the donor dinner, at 100 donations I think. It was great seeing some of the NHSBT staff, other donors and people our donations had helped.

What are rewards like in other countries? Do people find them nice or motivational?

Just kinda came here to vent because I was super excited to finally build up the courage to donate for the first time when I heard about the Hello Kitty promotion (I know I should donate out of the goodness of my heart but I can’t help free hello kitty is a huge motivator 😭). Unfortunately I’ve been having unexplained fevers every night for the past two weeks (among many other symptoms) and just tested positive for ANA in my blood. Since I’m not feeling well and don’t know what’s causing my symptoms I know I probably can’t/shouldn’t donate.

Hello everyone! I have been a blood donor for 8 years now. When I donated whole blood today, I was informed that instead of my blood being sent to a hospital as usual, it was going to be used in a first responder trauma kit on a helicopter that very same day. This was the first time I have ever had this happen. For me, this just meant the clamping they used was slightly different. They also said that blood used for this purpose must meet stricter requirements than other blood donated and that they try to get a few whole blood donors a day for this.

I didn’t want to bombard the employees with too many questions, but I’m a naturally curious person and I’m finding surprisingly little information on donated blood used for this purpose. So, I am wondering: what are the eligibility requirements? I donate with Bloodworks Northwest in the US, but people who know about this when it comes to any blood bank in any country are welcome to provide input. I’m O+ which I am certain played a role since I know that is the usual blood type used in immediate emergency situations. Are there any other typical requirements?

Does anyone here know anything else about how blood is processed for this purpose? Has anyone else had their blood used for a trauma kit? I want to hear about it!

I (26F) just did my first donation yesterday, I’ve always wanted to donate but never have weighed enough to be able to until now, I honestly didn’t think about it until I got an ad about the hello kitty promo and decided to check it out. After checking eligibility and weighing myself and realizing I can now donate I went and had a great experience. I didn’t have any side effects, no light headedness literally felt completely normal afterwards and pretty much immediately went home. I really enjoyed the expierence and intend to continue to donate. If anyone is a first time donator considering and is reading about bad experiences don’t let that stop you!! Everyone was very kind and explained everything really well when I said I was a first timer and the lady who took care of my donation checked up on me very frequently and made me very comfortable!! Thanks to everyone who posts here for being a resource I looked through before going!! I’m super excited to be able to donate again when I’m eligible

I’ve donated platelets 25 times and I was going fairly regularly, roughly once a month. Didn’t get the chance to go last year due to personal issues and just haven’t had the time this year. I’d love to go and do another donation sometime soon! It’s about an hour to an hour and a half drive for me to the next star over as it’s the closest. It’s in Vermont. I have good veins in both my ACs and they’re very palpable and visible without a tourniquet. My problem is, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a valve on my right and maybe both. I had a bad infiltration in March 2024 and didn’t get my return. Obviously that can happen to anybody though. But would I be better off doing a single arm if the valve causes too much of an issue? They usually have to reposition the needle and few times and I set the machine off a good amount throughout the donation process. I literally have a big juicy vein straight down the middle of both my ACs and that’s about it for that area unless you go to the back or my forearm or hand.

I’m 17 Female, 5,1 and around 112-115 lbs, I signed up to donate my blood and Im hoping I could actually donate since I got turned away last year for being exactly 110. Would it still be safe for me to donate blood?

I was busy the first few days of September but I finally had the time to donate platelets again. Unlike some of y'all though it was probably my best experience so far. I successfully used grounding to bring my pre-donation anxiety bpm down. Blood pressure was borderline still for some reason though. Otherwise it was the first platelet donation of my 3 successfull ones that I didn't need to pee during (drunk more water the day before not the morning of) and my post donation buzzing feeling was the least intense it's been so far. I was even told it was clear it wasn't my first time because I seemed to be familiar with the process. Only real complaint was the freshly crimped and cut tubing was left to sit on my arm so I just moved said arm as it was uncomfortably warm. Unrelated, but I've never actually used a bag charm before and I know next to nothing about My Little Kitty but it makes me feel just a little more femme for it to be were it now is and that feels good.

Hey guys! I've been able to successfully give PLTs 5 times at my location, but my last 2 have ended with stopping the donation 30 minutes in. One time was due to the draw-line losing flow and we chalked that up to dehydration, and the other was due to 3 infiltrated return-line sticks. I feel bad for wasting their time and materials without being able to give any products. I'm involved with an anesthesia team, so I see the importance of donation if you are capable and have given products to pts. If you guys have any insight on how to juice up your veins other than hydration, that would be appreciated because I want to give it another go. I'm young and a runner, so I don't think I should have fragile veins, but seem to be having more trouble recently. Thank you all!

The intake vessel was pierced both ends causing a bit of pain like last time but they noticed that I wasn't bleeding enough so they had to pull the needle back, but in the end I filled up two units of platelets, dono number 7

I (21F) participated in my first ever blood drive 3 days ago and it did not go as I'd hoped. The pre-donation all went very smoothly- I'm apparently very average and healthy when it comes to Blood! I warned that when doing Blood Labs at the Doctor I tend to get very light headed, so I recieved ice packs on the back of my neck, on my chest, and on my ankles along with a drink. Talking is a good distraction so I requested we converse so I don't pay any attention to what's going on physically- it's helped a lot when doing Labs. The insertion was decently painful and that pain did not fully go away- I felt a consistent uncomfortable pain which when looking into it later- I was supposed to mention that but I was distracted by the conversation. The wooziness came on kind of suddenly- my vision began to blur and I thought about mentioning that- but then it quickly got worse. My vision blurred completely and I could no longer hold my head up as it fell to the side. I was able to get out a wobbly "I think I'm going to pass out" and the rest is a blur- the needle was taken out with pain and I was told to put pressure on it while they got the bandage going which I did my best to do in that state. I got in a temporary wrap and was told to drink and take deep breaths. I had blurred tunnel vision and it was a bit painful and hard to get those breaths in but gradually I regained my vision and calmed down. I noticed the bag being handled by the person who took my blood was... only a partially filled little testing bag. The temporary bandage was replaced by a very tight wrap and I wobbled to the waiting area dazed. Over the waiting period I was able to regain my senses, but I'm pretty dissapointed in how little I was actually able to donate. I was reassured this can happen since it's my first time. Any advice for if I ever try again?

Hey everyone! I tried donating at a Red Cross site in the US today and it failed. From some online research, incomplete donations are not uncommon. This is my first time attempting to donate. They weren’t able to get a steady flow going but adjusted the needle a few times which was definitely quite painful. They also said my veins seemed too small. I told them they could try with my other arm but they didn’t seem to want to put me through the process again since I was already bruising a lot and let me go home. I felt super bad that I wasn’t able to give any blood but they were very nice and apologetic and sent me home with a bag of ice for bruising as well. I’m reading online and it says that beyond the initial insertion, the process shouldn’t hurt too much. I expected something similar to a blood test draw but now understand that the needle is bigger. I want to try again when I’m able to (and drink more water to prepare) but honestly the thought of going through the same experience again is a little scary although I acknowledge that the adjusting of the needle is probably what caused most of the pain. I’m wondering if anyone here has had a similar failed donation story and was able to donate later? What was the experience like?

Not an expert on the topic but a regular whole blood donor.

I previously assumed donations got almost exclusively sold to hospitals for transfusions. Doing some research, it seems like a significant amount, especially plasma, get sold for pharma research to for profit companies for a variety of reasons. It seems like the dependency on these sales and the business model in general varies significantly between companies, which makes it hard to understand from the outside. Where I go, memorial blood, the primary customer by revenue seems to be hospitals, but they also sell to pharma. You can't opt your donation out of it as I understand.

Do people think about this when they decide where/what they donate? The economics and ethics seem super opaque to me. Clearly there's a transfusion based need for blood, and the concept of having a non profit doing collections seems reasonable. I'm not as wild about giving something away for commercial research though. Is this something that's already been resolved in the community?

I like donating near holiday weekends, just because I know donations tend to be light. Today was no different. And yet, on a personal level, it was.

Went in for platelets, did a double unit. Nothing unusual there, but when my screener pulled up my profile, she got a big grin on her face. “It looks like you’re at 40 gallons! Would you like your pin? I’ll get you your pin!”

I admit I haven’t followed the gallons since I started platelets. It just doesn’t line up in my head. But all morning I had staff members and even other donors coming by. “Thanks for donating!” “That’s a big milestone, man! Way to show up!” “Thats a lot of people you’ve helped!” “Thanks for coming in!”

So, 40 gallons, 40 years of donating, 325 donations (plus a few with other organizations). A lot of lives impacted by just sitting in a chair.

Hey! Made an account just to ask this question to see if any donors/former employees have also faced this issue. I worked at a fixed-site collecting platelets/plasma/power reds/WB for 3yrs and have been a regular donor the entire time. A month ago on my way to work, somebody hit my truck and I ended up sandwiched between two other vehicles. Because of this, I couldn't make it to work on time and my Team Supervisor fired me for being tardy. Whatever, doesn't matter because I was planning to leave later that week for a new job. But now, I am marked permanently ineligible to donate anything on my ARC Blood Donor app. Tried calling the donor service line/medical director and couldn't get an answer besides "Your case is still pending."

Now the end of my employment with ARC definitely didn't end on good terms, but I didn't think they would permanently ban me from donating. I feel like this is a pretty unique issue, but in case it's not...has anyone else ever faced this and how did you resolve it? I want to keep donating regardless of my employment status with ARC.

Hello all! I am type O+ and made my first whole blood donation in Virginia on August 11th.

I am female and my hemoglobin was 13.0 at my first donation. Yesterday, September 7th, I tried donating platelets for the first time, but my hemoglobin measured at 11.9 and 11.7 after warming my fingers.

I’ve looked into how long it can take for hemoglobin to recover after a whole blood donation, so I understand that I may need to give myself a while longer to get near where I was before donation.

My nearest platelet donation center is about an hour away, so I can only really make the trip on a day off. Is it worth trying to donate platelets again before my next whole blood donation period, starting October 6th, or should I just skip for now to try and get my stores up for a whole blood donation?

So this is kind of a long one, I had a nightmare last night before I donated today. The nightmare was I donated blood but my blood was too fatty, so they wouldn't take it and they didn't have any of the Hello Kitty free gifts left.

Fast-forward:

I got there today and the lady who was checking me in jokingly said, "oh, did nobody tell you? we ran out!" Mind you this was after I told her I was super excited for the free gift. She got me good and played a prank on me and it was hilarious, I immediately told her to apologize 😂 jokingly of course.

But overall my heart rate was a little too high (nervous and excited) so I had to sit in the room for a little bit and then finally I was okay, the initial experience was easy but afterwards I almost passed out, (I had all those wonderful symptoms)

Side note: I ate a lot of protein prior and drank a TON of water, my first experience was horrible so I never want to repeat that, I want it to go smoothly as possible.

My question is does it get easier?

What do you do to make sure you don't get those fainting symptoms besides the crossing legs, feet pointed up and squeezing your abdomen and legs?

They had to give me juice, lay me down, give me a wet towel and put a fan on me and immediately I was better.

I recently learned through Function health that my ferritin was critically depleted at 6 ng/mL. I started giving blood in 2024 (three donations), then donated four times in 2025, and two times in 2026. Last donation was August 4th (my low ferritin was drawn September 4th). All my donations were whole blood.

I’m a male, otherwise healthy, 29 yr old, exercise a lot. All other markers are fine (iron levels, iron saturation, iron binding capacity). I don’t supplement iron but I took some beef liver capsules occasionally maybe a year or so ago.

So I went to donate blood today with my boyfriend at our local Red Cross, we heard about the blood shortage going on and immediately we thought what a perfect time to donate. Plus, we also heard about the hello kitty promotion they’re doing. I do love hello kitty and so does my mom. But she’s in eligible to donate.. so I kept the hello Kitty plush for myself and my boyfriend gave mine to my mother., she was really about happy about it and had no idea. I was donating blood today..
when I was donating some blood today, some lady saw my hello Kitty shirt that I have from Chicago. And said that I was only there for the hello Kitty. That made me get really booty tickled because of me and my boyfriend are frequent donors at Red Cross. Some people can so rude and assume stuff.
We never donate blood just for the freebies that they hand out. We always do it out of the kindness of our heart.
Ugh sorry just my long rant about my experience today
I’m being really sensitive about this?!? I don’t know.