Donor
Eligibility

Some travel, health conditions, or medications may temporarily or permanently prevent persons from donating blood. If you have a question regarding your eligibility to donate
blood and would like to discuss it please call 270.684.9296 and ask for the Donor Room.

Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center
  
 SPECIAL WKRBC PROGRAMS

 INDIVIDUAL BLOOD PROGRAM

By donating only twice a year, the donor acquires blood coverage for himself and his family. Family members include; a spouse, children under the age of eighteen (18), parents and parents-in-law. Once a donor has give eight units of blood, the individual acquires blood coverage for life. If the individual needs to use blood credits, he or she should notify the Blood Center and supply the following information; name of donor, date/location of last donation, first, middle, and last name of patient, relation of patient to donor if applicable), and name and location of hospital. 

 BLOOD REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

Even though your BloodCenter is a not-for-profit organization, there are charges for blood.  Every unit of blood donated must undergo a variety of tests. The phlebotomists and laboratory technologists must be trained and licensed in order to draw and test the blood collected. The most up-to-date products, supplies, and equipment must be used for testing and drawing blood.  

Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center receives no outside funding.  Therefore it is necessary for the BloodCenter to place charges on the blood products. As a special service to our donors, the BloodCenter has developed a replacement blood program giving donors the opportunity to establish blood coverage for themselves and their family members. Blood Coverage simply means that the individual will not be charged a replacement fee for red cells used; and if the patient uses 20 units of blood (for example) the patient will not need 20 people to replace the blood.

 
 DONATION PROGRAMS

WHOLE BLOOD DONATION

Every 2 seconds an American receives a blood transfusion. Help ensure this precious resource is available for ill and injured people in our community by donating blood at the Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center.

 DIRECTED DONATION
 
Definition:  Blood donated by a person(s) to be given to a specific patient.

Most blood transfusion authorities believe that blood from family and friends (directed donations) is no safer than blood from regular volunteer donors. Directed donations are made available because of patients concerns, not because of medical evidence has shown greater safety. Directed donations are not intended for emergency use.  Donations must be made 48 hours in advance.  A list of names of potential donors must be supplied on a direct donation request form to the Blood Center before blood can be transfused. Due to the rare potential of Graft VS-Host disease after receiving blood from a first degree family member, these units must be irradiated before transfusion.  (First degree members are parents, siblings, and children.)  Appropriate forms are required and various regulations must be met for directed donations.  

 AUTOLOGOUS DONATION

Definition:  Blood drawn from an individual.

After storage (35 day limit), transfused back to the same individual, usually during an elective surgery.  The Autologous unit is the safest blood a person can receive because it is the recipient's own blood.  Autologous blood is never given to another person because not all autologous donors meet the FDA requirements for blood donation.  Autologous blood not used by the donor is destroyed.  Autologous blood is, at times, preferred by both patient and physician for pre-planned surgeries such as; reconstructive surgeries, back surgery, jaw surgery, and hip and knee replacements.  Appropriate forms are required and various regulations must be met for autologous donations. 

 PLATELET APHERESIS
Aphaeresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets.  During the aphaeresis procedure, all but the needed blood components are returned to the donor.  Consult with a staff phlebotomist regarding requirements for this unique donation. Platelet aphaeresis provides 8-10 times the platelet yield of a whole blood donation.

DOUBLE RED CELL 

The "double red cell" procedure allows a donor to give twice the volume of packed red cells than in a normal donation, the donor gets back his or her plasma and platelets, along with enough saline solution to restore the volume of red cells lost.  

     It’s a win-win for both donor and recipient. Donors end up making one trip to WKRBC instead of two. The donor recruiters make one phone call instead of two. The donation itself is twice as useful. The hours and dollars spent doing viral safety-testing on the blood sample are only done once. This allows WKRBC to use their funds in other needed areas. And we only have to do one blood group/type test.

Two units from one donation! Everybody benefits!