Monthly Platelet Drives

Description

The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, along with Provisions and the Spring Branch-Bulverde Lions Club, will be conducting MONTHLY PLATELET DRIVES in the downtown village of Bulverde.
Platelets are “liquid gold” for the STBTC, and an eligible donor can donate as often as once every 10 days! Platelets have a very short shelf life, being viable for only about 5 days, so the STBTC needs to keep their supply plentiful by asking for frequent donations. Platelets are used by many types of patients experiencing medical needs. They are used in critical emergency care and in patients who are receiving cancer or leukemia treatments. Platelets are the component in blood that help to stop bleeding. Keeping the platelet supply current and abundant is an imperative in the medical community.

Most healthy individuals can donate. The eligibility criteria include being 17 years of age and weighing at least 110 pounds.
Ideal donors are women who have never been pregnant and men.
Women who have been pregnant may donate after they have screened negative for the HLA antigen. This testing must have been done and recorded by the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center. If a woman would like to donate platelets but has never been tested, she may come to donate whole blood and that blood donation will be screened at the main STBTC facility. Those test results will inform future eligibility to donate platelets, plus, the STBTC gets a bonus whole blood donation.

Donating platelets takes about 2.5 hours, so donors are asked to make accommodations for this time requirement. Donors are kept comfortable during the process, snacks and water are available, and they may watch a movie, read, or nap while they are in the platelet mobile. Donors are advised to bring a blanket or sweater/jacket, as the bus is kept quite chilly.

If you would like more information about the need for platelets or more about donating platelets, CLICK HERE

Scheduled Platelet Drive dates are:

• September 1
• October 6
• November 3
• December 1

The appointments are available at 9:00, 11:00, and 1:00. Three donors at a time can be accommodated in the bus (for a total of 9 needed for each drive, plus 3 alternates to fill any missed appointments or ineligible donors). The bus will be parked at 2295 Bulverde Road, 78163, at Provisions.

You may set up an appointment online at https://donatingforlife.org. You will click on “Locate a Blood Drive” then enter the zip code 78163. You should then be directed to all drives being held in the community (you may need to scroll down the page or to other pages). There may be more than one blood drive scheduled in our area, so if you are specifically looking to donate platelets, be sure to select a platelet drive at Provisions.