What happens during the blood donation?
The process of giving blood normally takes no longer than an hours time, and under 15 minutes for the actual donation. First, youll go to the registration station where a permanent record of your donation is begun. Next, youll answer some brief questions about your health history, to help make sure that giving blood will be as safe as possible for you and any potential blood recipients. Then, your temperature, pulse, blood pressure and red blood cell level are checked to make sure they fall within established guidelines. Youll donate approximately a pint, or about one-twelfth of the blood in your body. In the canteen area, youll be served some refreshments to help begin your bodys replenishment process. Your body replenishes plasma, the liquid portion of blood, in hours; platelets and white cells, within days; and red cells, within a couple of weeks. All in all, youll find that giving blood is a relatively easy, painless process. To further ease the blood donation process and help main
