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An Autologous Blood Donation is a procedure that allows you to donate
blood to yourself prior to an upcoming operation, with your physician's
approval. Your doctor will determine whether the type of surgery
you are scheduled for requires a transfusion and if your health
allows you to give blood safely.
Once your operation is scheduled, your doctor
must complete a request form for autologous blood, and send the form
to Blood Bank of Alaska. We will contact you for an appointment as
soon as we receive the information.
These appointments are ordinarily scheduled
one week apart. All autologous donations must be completed at least
three working
days
before your
operation.
The autologous donation process is similar
to the process for volunteer donations. We will test your hematocrit
level before
each donation
to determine if it meets the minimum level required for blood
donations. Once the unit is drawn, it will be tested for infectious
disease,
such as HIV and hepatitis. We will report positive results
in writing to you, your doctor, the medical director of the hospital
transfusion
service, and others as required by law.
If your blood unit tests
positive for HIV or hepatitis, Blood Bank of Alaska must receive
a written, signed and dated request
from
your doctor before we will release your blood to the hospital.
Autologous
blood can be collected at all Blood Bank of Alaska Donor centers.
Your autologous units may be insufficient
for your needs.
If so, your doctor may use additional blood from the community
blood supply. Autologous blood is for your use only. It
will not be released
to the community blood supply if it is not transfused to you.
Please contact our Special
Collections staff at 907-222-5645 to schedule your donation and
discuss any charges that
may be applicable.
Directed donors are donors selected by a patient or the
patient's family to give blood for the patient's use.
These donors
are usually family members or friends of the patient
who have the
same blood
type. Directed donors must meet the same donor requirements
as a whole blood donor. Directed donations
can be made only at the Blood Bank of Alaska’s Anchorage center.
Therapeutic Procedures are used to treat diseases characterized
by the body's excess production of red blood cells or excess
levels of iron (e.g. hemochromatosis) or heme by-products.
You cannot
come into a Blood Bank of Alaska donor
center on your own and
request a therapeutic procedure. It must be prescribed
by your physician. To schedule the procedure with Blood Bank
of Alaska, the physician must send a request to us, containing
patient
information, diagnosis, schedule of phlebotomy and minimum acceptable
hematocrit level.
Therapeutic procedures can be performed at
all Blood Bank of Alaska donor centers, by appointment. The process
takes
approximately
45 minutes to an hour.
The procedure begins similar to a whole
blood donation. You will receive a mini physical and be asked
questions about your
health,
medications, etc. Unlike volunteer and autologous donations,
the blood will not be tested after it is drawn. The blood
is not made
available for transfusion at any time. Payment for the therapeutic
collection is required at the time of service.
For questions regarding
therapeutic procedures you may contact 907-222-5645.
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