How are the procedures different for donating blood / platelets / plasma?

Question

I understand the donation process for platelets and plasma is different than donating regular blood. How are they different? Thank You!

Answer 1

In the donation process of platelets and plasma, the blood is filtered as it is taken to remove the items of interest. The filtered blood is returned to the body. This process takes longer but allows people to donate more frequently, which is good due to the short shelf life of platelets and plasma.

When donating whole blood (normal donations) everything removed is taken. As it takes the body 6wks to replace all the red blood cells you need to wait 6 - 8 weeks between donations.

For further information you can look at - www.donateblood.com.au (Australian Red Cross)

Answer 2

specific, AB plasma is the known plasma donor, and plasma could be frozen and stored for a protracted time. entire blood (the stuff circulating in you) is produced from the cells (pink, white, platelets) and the liquid (plasma). they draw off a unit of bllod, and spin down the cells, pull them off for a unit of plasma and a unit of pink cells (packed cells).