The Autologous Blood Donor Program is here to bank your own blood in anticipation of a scheduled surgery.

What is an Autologous Donor?

An autologous (“auto” meaning self) blood donation allows you to store your own blood for future use. The benefits include: safety against potential disease transmission:elimination of risk immunization to foreign tissue: and the decreased risk of possible adverse reactions to future blood transfusions.

Limitations:

There are limitations on the number of units you may donate, and how close to surgery you may schedule autologous donations. The number of autologous units you may need generally depends upon the type of surgery you have scheduled. Consult your surgeon for the number of units you will probably require during surgery.

Some surgical procedures require blood beyond the limits of one person’s donation. In this case, the Directed Blood Donation Program is another option to consider.

As an autologous donor, the number of units you need and your physical condition determines the amount of time required to complete the program. You can only donate one unit at a time and three days is the minimum amount of time between donations. The last unit must be drawn at least three working days prior to your surgery.

First Step/Call Your Physician:

In order to make an autologous donation, you must first make arrangements with your physician to initiate the donation process. Your physician should fill out and provide you with a prescription to donate blood for your surgery. You should call (1.866. 2GIVENJ)
or e-mail the Blood Center to make your appointment to donate.

The Process:

During the pre-donation screening, you will be asked to sign a consent form indicating your acceptance of the autologous program regulations.

Following this, you will be given a brief physical examination, recording your temperature, blood pressure, pulse, weight and a hemoglobin. A hematocrit is a sample of your blood used to determine whether you are anemic. If your hemoglobin is found acceptable, you can donate a pint of blood.

After you have donated, you are required to sit in the donor’s chair for ten minutes, or until you feel comfortable to walk about. Refreshments will be provided at this time.

Generally, the Autologous Donation process takes about one hour to complete the necessary paperwork to collect one pint of blood and to allow enough time for you to rest afterwards. At the Blood Center, autologous donations are made by appointment only. We will do our best to make your visit brief and comfortable.