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Donating plasma?

S

Saulbadguy

Diamond Member
Anyone do it? Is it different from donating blood? What all is involved, how long does it take, how much do you get paid, etc etc...
 
Yes. In a way, yes. They separate your plasma from your blood I believe, anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours. Up to $75 per week.

Edit: Bring a book or a game boy. Something to pass the time with.
 
Start drinking water the day before you donate.

<-used to work at a plasma center.

The scars are hideous if you donate a lot.

2nd article I actually worked at the plasma center he talks about in the article.
 
It's not so bad if you deck in under a certain amount (160 pounds?) because then you only have to fill up the small bottle. Above that and you get the big jug to fill.

Little bottle takes about 30 minutes, big one is close to an hour to fill. Some people drip faster than others. Drink lots of water and you'll drip quicker. Drink a lot of booze the day before and you'll have a red colored plasma 🙂

If you've got a bad tech they'll stick you 5 times before they hit the vein and leave you bruised and in a lot of pain.

It paid for beer money in college, can't say I would ever openly suggest it. In hindsight I would have rather taken a second job to make up for the income.

I question the cleanliness of the machines and safe practices of the techs they have working at those.

 
Originally posted by: vi_edit

I question the cleanliness of the machines and safe practices of the techs they have working at those.
Click to expand...

Yep, it was the only job I've ever walked off from during the middle of the day. Nasty place &amp; a nasty business...

 
Takes longer than whole blood.

You can donate more frequently (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) as recommended by the blood banks for donotations.

Commerical are willing to suck your blood more frequently - See Pliablemoose post below.

/edit to clarify Commerical vs non-profit blood banks
 
I did it for about a year....

You go twice a week and (at the time) could make up to $180 a month.

In a given week the payscale was:
1st time - $15
2nd time - $20

It takes between 1-2 hours *ONCE YOU GET IN A SEAT* - the less limpemic you are (less fat in your plasma) and the more you drink, the faster it goes .

Your waiting time for a seat could vary greatly from no time to 3-4 hours.

The way it worked for me was you made your 1st appt. - you saw a doctor or RN, they ran bloodwork &amp; ask a bunch of questions (can't have been in certain countries, no unprotected sex, no drugs, etc) and do a minor physical. This takes 3-5 hours. Then you get to donate. The first two times you donate take longer because they replace your plasma with a saline solution at the end of the donation.

Each time you donate you check in. Eventually they take your temp (can't be too high or too low), take some blood from you finger, and take your blood pressure. You then sit and wait, and wait, and wait.

If all is well you get called to a seat.

Yes, the needles are fairly big and if you have veins that are hard to find or a new person, you may get stuck one or more times and in one or more arms. It isn't all that painful and once the needle is inserted you can easily tune it out. Learn who the "good" techs are or you'll pay......If they screw up bad you get a big azz bruise on your arm from the blood leaking from the ruptured vein. It eventually goes away but you can't donate from that arm until it heals.

The system takes some blood, spins out the plasma, and returns the red blood cells. You can speed up the process by pumping your fist. This sequence happens between 4-7 times (the amount of plasma they take is based on your weight) and lasts 10-15 minutes a sequence.

The techs would tell me this was one of the "good" centers (they played movies on TV's you could watch) and tell stories of other centers where things were not so good.

The center I went to closed down - the demand for plasma has greatly decreased - and the other center in the area had crappier hours. Would I do it again? The extra $$'s were nice and I could catch up on reading schoolwork.....dunno though.

Cliff's notes:
--Doesn't hurt too much
--Big needles
--May get pricked more than once
--You wait and wait and wait
You do get scars and your veins get progressively more difficult to find.
 
BTW - can anyone confirm this -

I've been told that the "paid for" plasma - AKA plasma you get paid to "donate" can't be used for medicinal needs. It's sold off to the cosmetic industry for testing and making lotions and things.

Any truth to that?
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
BTW - can anyone confirm this -

I've been told that the "paid for" plasma - AKA plasma you get paid to "donate" can't be used for medicinal needs. It's sold off to the cosmetic industry for testing and making lotions and things.

Any truth to that?
Click to expand...

Another rumor I heard that blood centers actually sell donated blood (the one you don't get paid for) to cosmetic centers once it expires. Not sure about Red Cross, but I've heard Stanford blood center does it. Can anyone confirm?
 
Originally posted by: paulney
Originally posted by: vi_edit
BTW - can anyone confirm this -

I've been told that the "paid for" plasma - AKA plasma you get paid to "donate" can't be used for medicinal needs. It's sold off to the cosmetic industry for testing and making lotions and things.

Any truth to that?
Click to expand...

Another rumor I heard that blood centers actually sell donated blood (the one you don't get paid for) to cosmetic centers once it expires. Not sure about Red Cross, but I've heard Stanford blood center does it. Can anyone confirm?
Click to expand...


______________________________

AFIK the plasma is used for things like gamma globulin, vaccines, etc. From a financial standpoint the stuff costs them too much to *just* use for cosmetics - they replace all the tubing, needles, filters, etc. each donation and then they have to pay you, test the stuff, store it, pay the staff, etc. Medical markup is *much* higher.....

Dunno what they do with the 'old' plasma - maybe it makes it into hot dogs???

:Q
 
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