Highland donors sought by Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) to give life-saving plasma donations
Our Give Blood, Save Lives campaign is, of course, focused primarily on getting more people to give blood for all the good work that it can do.
But this festive season the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) is also aiming to boost its numbers of plasma donors - plasma being one of the components of blood that has its own particular uses.
Essentially it is what remains after red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are removed.
It makes up 55 per cent of human blood and contains antibodies, also known as immunoglobulins, as well as clotting factors that stop bleeding.
What is plasma used for?
It can be used to make a variety of life-saving products and medicines including Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP); Cryoprecipitate (Cryo); and Plasma for Medicine (PfM)
What are FFP and Cryo?
FFP is produced by quickly freezing plasma donations to preserve their clotting factors. It can be used to treat patients with major bleeding or who have low levels of certain clotting factors.
Cryo is a blood product prepared from fresh frozen plasma. It is used to treat patients with bleeding and liver disorders.
What is Plasma for Medicine?
Plasma can be used to make immunoglobulin therapy. This can be used to help patients with weak immune systems fight infection, both those born with immune disorders and those who have developed them following cancer, cancer treatments or transplants.
Plasma can also be used to make albumin solution to treat patients with liver disorders and patients needing plasma exchanges procedures. Plasma exchange procedures remove patients’ plasma, which may contain harmful antibodies or substances, and replace it with fluids like FFP or human albumin solution.
How is plasma donated?
Plasma can be donated in two ways: as part of a normal whole blood donation, where your gift is later split into its component parts; or as a purely plasma donation where a special machine splits the components of bllod drawn there and then, collects the plasma and returns the platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells immediately.
Who can give plasma donations?
Plasma donors MUST be at least 60kg and able to donate at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee or Inverness donor centres where donations take around 60-90 minutes each time.
Plasma donors CAN be male or female (female donors must have given blood or platelets at least once before); any blood type (though donors with group B blood group are particualrly sought after currently)
Plasma donors can donate every four weeks.
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Are there any additional tests for giving Plasma for Medicine?
Yes, a few. All plasma donors need to meet the standard eligibility criteria for blood donation.
In addition potential Plasma for Medicine donors will have their veins assessed - this simply means having a good look at them, it’s not invasive in any way.
Before or with a first donation your blood will also be tested to make sure it is safe for you to donate. This testing will involved counting your haematocrit (the percentage of oxygen-carrying red blood cells in your blood); platelets (the amount of healing platelet cells you have); and white blood cells (how many infection-fighting white blood cells you have).
As a Plasma for Medicine donor your total blood proteins will also be tested at least once a year.
What should I do before donating?
Make sure you’ve had plenty to drink before coming to donate. You’ll also get 500ml of water to drink when you arrive for donation.
Don’t donate on an empty stomach - make sure you’ve eaten well beforehand - but avoid fatty, oily or greasy meals as these can affect plasma quality.
Are there any risks associated with giving plasma?
Most of the risks of plasma donation are similar to the risks associated with blood donation.
Bruising and pain: Most pain and bruising is minor, and symptoms settle quickly with no or simple measures. Fewer than 1 in 50 donations lead to bruising.
Feeling faint: New blood donors are more likely to be affected, however drinking plenty of clear fluids (at least 500ml) before donation significantly reduces the likelihood of fainting.
Citrate effect: Citrate is a blood thinner which occurs naturally in the body. It is added to the donation to prevent clotting. A small amount is returned to the donor. Most donors feel no side effects, but some may feel tingling around their mouth, fingertips or toes, a metallic taste, or chills. These effects are easily managed by slowing the procedure down.
Other complications including severe pain, arm inflammation, nerve injury or a punctured artery occur in fewer than one in 1000 donations.
Plasma can be donated at Inverness Donor Centre on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Inverness Donor Centre currently needs to welcome 23 plasma donors across its doors each week however SNBTS will look to build upon these numbers throughout 2025.
