How It Works
At Life Plasma, we strive to ensure our donors have a safe, pleasant and rewarding experience. Here’s everything you need to know about donating.
Before Donating
When you arrive at Life Plasma, you’ll be greeted by a receptionist who will review your documentation. Please arrive with the following documents:
- Driver’s License or Current photo I.D. (and a mail postmarked within last 30-days showing your new address, if different from the address on your current Photo I.D.)
- Social Security Card (Any official form containing Social Security Number like W2 or tax return)
It’s important to drink plenty of fluids and eat a meal before you arrive. Also, notify center personnel if you had recent surgery, you’ve obtained a tattoo or piercing recently, or if you are taking medication or are under a doctor’s care for any medical condition.
On all visits, you’ll be asked to fill out a Donor History Questionnaire, and a center technician will check your vital signs and take a small blood sample from your finger to check your hemoglobin, hematocrit, and total protein levels, depending on the type of program that you will be participating in.
You should NOT be…
Pregnant.
Showing signs of flu or cold.
Under care for any serious illness or injury.
Give Blood
To be eligible, donors must be:
- 16-70 years of age
- Weigh at least 110 pounds
- Be in good health
If you are 16, download the Parental Consent Form below. You do not need parental consent form if you are 17 or older. You can donate every 56 days. It takes 10-15 minutes to donate, and the entire process may take up to 1 hour depending on the time of the day.
Give Plasma
To be eligible, donors must be:
- 18-70 years of age.
- Weigh at least 110 pounds.
- Be in good health.
Give Platelets
You must be at least 16 years old to participate after parental consent (Hyperlink to download a PDF Parental Consent form). You do not need to provide parental consent if you are 17 or older. You can donate every 7 days with a maximum of 24 donations a year.
To be eligible, donors must be:
- 16 years of age.
- Weigh at least 110 pounds.
- Be in good health.
During the Donation
If the center staff determines that you are eligible to donate, you will be taken to the donation area and seated in a comfortable reclining chair/bed, where a technician will sanitize your arm, insert the needle, and begin the donation process.
Depending on the type of program, whole blood will be drawn into an Apheresis machine. Red blood cells or plasma or platelets are separated from whole blood and collected in a sterile container, and the remaining blood components are returned to your body. All disposables are sterile and single use. So, there is no risk of your blood coming in contact with anyone else’s blood.
The whole process for a first-time donation can be up to 2 hours. Depending on what you are donating, subsequent visits can be a few minutes to a few hours. Blood donations take about 30 minutes, plasma about 1 hour, and platelet donations can be up to 2-3 hours.
After Donation
Compensation
Blood & Platelet Donors: Life Plasma offers gift cards to local restaurants, shopping, movies, and other exciting prizes for our blood and platelet donors to thank you for your donation.
Plasma Donors: Life Plasma offers compensation through a debit card to our plasma donors.
Life Plasma compensates our donors up to $100 for your Plasma donation. Regular donors that donate Plasma twice a week, earn up to $6,000 a year.
Our goal is to make your Plasma donation safe, convenient and rewarding.
EARN UP TO
$6000
PER YEAR!
Refer a Friend ($10 for you & $10 for your friend)
*after their 2nd donation