Blood Donation - Recovery and Time Between Donations

Recovery and Time Between Donations

Donors are usually kept at the donation site for 10–15 minutes after donating since most adverse reactions take place during or immediately after the donation. Blood centers typically provide light refreshments or a lunch allowance to help the donor recover. The needle site is covered with a bandage and the donor is directed to keep the bandage on for several hours. In hot climates, donors are advised to avoid dehydration (strenuous games, alcohol) till few hours after donation.

Donated plasma is replaced after 2–3 days. Red blood cells are replaced by bone marrow into the circulatory system at a slower rate, on average 36 days in healthy adult males. In one study, the range was 20 to 59 days for recovery. These replacement rates are the basis of how frequently a donor can donate blood.

Plasmapheresis and plateletpheresis donors can give much more frequently because they do not lose significant amounts of red cells. The exact rate of how often a donor can donate differs from country to country. For example, plasmapheresis donors in the United States are allowed to donate large volumes twice a week and could nominally give 83 liters (about 22 gallons) in a year, whereas the same donor in Japan may only donate every other week and could only donate about 16 liters (about 4 gallons) in a year. Red blood cells are the limiting step for whole blood donations, and the frequency of donation varies widely depending on the type of donor and local policies. For example, adult men in Hong Kong can donate once every three months, women every four months, and youth aged sixteen or seventeen only every six months. In Canada and the United States it is 56 days for any type of donor.