Blood bank

Requirements to donate blood and/or platelets:

• Every donor must show their ID document, be in good health and have previously eaten food.
• Be over 18 and under 65 years of age. 
• Weigh more than 50 kg.
• Not having suffered from serious chronic diseases.
• If you have had flu symptoms, you should wait 15 days.
• If you have visited malarious areas (Pacific Coast, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Panama) you must wait three months.
• Not being pregnant or breastfeeding.
• If you have had tattoos, acupuncture, piercing, liposculpture, mesotherapy or neural therapy done, you must wait 1 year to donate.
• If you have undergone dental treatment, you must wait 7 days. 
• If you have taken some type of antibiotic, you can donate 15 days after finishing treatment.
• If you are going to donate platelets, you should not have taken Aspirin, Advil or Alka-Seltzer within the last 5 days.

* Blood donation is not an adequate method to know your health status or to do blood tests.

Adverse reactions that may occur after blood donation include:

• Dizziness, bruising or pain in the arm that has been punctured, fainting, tingling, redness of the skin, feeling cold and very rarely, loss of consciousness and seizures.
• If you feel any discomfort after donating, do not hesitate to contact the Blood Bank staff at 3319090 ext. 4203-3016-3176. .

In the Blood Bank of Fundación Valle del Lili, which is located on the first floor, diagonally to the clinical laboratory.

Office hours:
Monday to Friday: 7:00 am – 7:00 pm.
Saturdays:  9:00 am – 1:00 pm.

You, your company, your educational institution or church may work hand in hand with us and help us to save lives by performing blood donation campaigns.

In order to achieve this end, we have two mobile units equipped with all the physical and human resources for ensuring the welfare and comfort of our donors.

Please contact us in our phone number: 3319090 ext: 3248 – 3016 or send an email to bancodesangre@gmail.com / bancodesangre@fvl.org.

When donating, 450cc (less than half a liter) are extracted, equivalent to only 10% of the total of blood in our bodies.

From each donation, different blood components and blood derivatives are obtained for the treatment of patients. Each one has a particular shelf life and is used for different treatments.

Uses of the three components of the blood:

• Platelets:Platelets are used for treating leukemia, in chemotherapy, for severe bleeding and transplants. Shelf life: 5 days.
• Red blood cells: Red blood cells are used for treating chronic anemia, in surgery and in cases of traumatic accidents. Shelf life: 42 days.
• Plasma: Plasma is used in cases of severe hemorrhages, burned patients and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Shelf life: 1 year

Donating blood and/or platelets:

• does not make you fat.
• does not make you lose weight.
• does not affect your health.
• is not required in cases of emergency only. 
• After a year of having a tattoo done you are able to donate blood.
• Before analyzing the blood of the donor, a preliminary interview is required.
• All blood types are important.

• You will first answer a questionnaire regarding your health and lifestyle habits.
• Your blood pressure, weight, pulse and temperature will be measured.
• Blood tests will be performed to rule out anemia. 
• A confidential interview will be carried out. 
• Blood collection lasts between 10 and 15 minutes. This is the time it takes to donate 45cc of blood and save lives.
• You should rest for a while. You will be given a bottle of water and a snack. It is important for you to drink liquids, since half of your blood is water.  

      *Platelet donation lasts one and a half hours.

Consent from the person/donor is needed to collect blood and manage their personal data, it always done confidentially and complying with the current legal regulations. 

Remember:

If at any time you feel dizzy:

• Stay calm. Dizziness is transitory.
• Do not try to stand up. 
• Lie on the floor and raise your legs to promote blood circulation.
• Hydrate.

After donating, you should consider the following:

• You should only drive vehicles for 30 minutes.
• You should only drive vehicles for 30 minutes.
• Avoid climbing stairs, work with heavy machinery or doing strenuous exercise for 6 hours after donation.
• Do not remove the band-aid in your arm before 3 hours.
• Avoid excessive activity with your punctured arm for 8 hours.
• Drink 6 glasses of water daily for the next 2 days.
• Do not smoke for 2 hours.
• Do not drink alcohol for 6 hours.

What tests are done after the donation?

Hemoclassification: tests to identify infectious diseases transmitted by blood, such as: HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HTLV I/II, Syphilis and Chagas disease are performed in order to ensure that the blood to be transfused to patients is safe. 

The results will always be handled confidentially and will be notified exclusively to the donor, according to the current legislation.  

Apheresis: is a donation modality that allows to separate blood components while being extracted. A machine consisting of a centrifuge system separates the platelets from the donor and returns the other components, basically, red blood cells. The process is performed through a single puncture in a vein.

The blood donated this way helps patients suffering from blood disorders, patients with diseases such as cancer or leukemia and transplant patients, whose bone marrow does not produce enough platelets.