What is Plasma Apheresis?
Today, sophisticated medical equipment – blood cell separators – can collect plasma for transfusion from a single donor, returning the rest of your blood components back to you during the donation process. Providing plasma from a single donor allows us to provide more plasma to help save more lives. It is a simple, safe process – very much like regular blood donation. Is it safe? During a plasma apheresis donation, blood is drawn from one arm and passed through a seperating machine which collects the plasma and returns the remaining blood components to the donor back through the same arm. The blood is passed through a sterile, disposable kit that is used once and discarded. Why Is Plasma Needed? Blood is made of four components: platelets, plasma, red blood cells and white blood cells. The plasma component serves a variety of functions, from maintaining blood pressure to supplying critical proteins for blood clotting and immunity. Plasma transfusion is most often used to control bleedi
