The Welsh Blood Service - Give blood and save lives...

Each time you attend a donation session we ask you to read a Blood Safety leaflet and to complete a tick box health check. We also ask you some specific questions to make sure you are well enough to donate and that your blood is safe to give to a patient.

We ask you to sign to indicate that you understand the consequences of giving blood, to give consent for your blood to be tested for various diseases and for it to be used for the benefit of patients. If we are not able to accept your donation we will tell you why.

We take a small drop of blood from your finger to make sure you are not anaemic (short of iron). If this shows you might be anaemic, you will not be able to give blood this time. We will ask you if we can take a blood sample from your arm for further testing. We write to you a few weeks later with the result and advise you what to do next.

As from Monday 11th February 2008 we will be introducing an improvement to our procedures for collecting your donation. We all carry certain bacteria on our skin which is harmless to us but which, if was passed to a patient who was very ill, could be fatal. For this reason we use individual items to clean your arm before starting your donation and to cover the donation site both during and afterwards. The change we are making is to bring together these individual items into one single use sterile pack that will be issued after you have had your haemoglobin test. By doing this we will strengthen the already thorough procedures we have in place to ensure that blood is both collected from you safely and also that it is safe for the recipient. Should you have any queries regarding this matter please ask to speak to the Team Manager at the donation clinic or telephone 01443 622132.

When you give blood you are then shown to a bed and asked to confirm your details. To make the vein more visible, a pressure cuff is put around your upper arm. This area is cleaned with antiseptic.

A specially trained member of staff will insert a needle which is attached to a blood bag. Your blood will then flow through the needle into the blood bag. You will be asked to open and close your hand to ensure smooth and consistent blood flow. A blood collection assistant will care for you to make sure everything goes well.

If, for any reason, the blood flow is slow, we may stop the donation early. At the end of the donation, the needle will be carefully removed from your arm and a dressing put on. You will be asked to press on the dressing and keep your arm extended to help prevent bruising. After you have given blood, you should rest for a little while and have a drink and biscuits to make sure that you have fully recovered.