Directed Donations

A directed blood donation allows additional units of blood to be collected for the recipient, since the blood is collected from designated family and friends.

Limitations:
A directed donation must be compatible with the recipient's blood type and the donor must not be anemic.

There is no conclusive evidence to prove that blood from designated family and friend donors is safer than blood from other volunteer donors.

Eligibility:
The decision to participate in a blood donor program is also based on your eligibility to donate. Medical history as well as current physical condition may exclude a donation. Donations may also be refused if the potential donor has a history of severe cardiac or liver problems. Age, recent surgical procedures, weight, and diseases such as hepatitis also determine eligibility as a blood donor.

Directed donations require prescriptions from your physician.

The directed donation program also requires that you call the blood center and give them the patient's name, social security number, their blood type, hospital, the date the units are needed, the number of units requested, patient's phone number and doctor's name prior to sending in any donors. The first donor must bring a prescription from the attending physician with the above information and stating that their donation is to be a directed donation. It is a state regulation that we have a prescription in order to tag units for a specific patient. Therefore, if we do not have the prescription, we cannot draw the units.

The blood center reserves the right to determine a donor's eligibility. We also will not guarantee all units drawn will clear laboratory testing or will be compatible to the patient when they reach the hospital. For these reasons, we suggest you have more donors than the number of units needed.