Donor Information

Autologous Blood Donation

All you need to know about donating for youself
Western Province Blood Transfusion Service (WPBTS) is an Incorporated Association Not-For-Gain, which is committed to ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply for our population. We follow the recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the South African Standards and Principles of Transfusion Practice.

WPBTS continually takes steps to enhance the safety of blood by reviewing and refining our donor deferral / selection criteria and evaluating new blood testing technology when it becomes available.

Important information

Although you are donating for yourself, we will still take these precautions:

• A crossmatch will be performed before issuing the blood to safeguard against clerical error or accidental issuing of the wrong blood.
• Blood tests will be taken prior to each donation to ensure that your iron level is sufficient for safe donation.
• Your blood will be tested for HIV (AIDS), Hepatitis and Syphilis. If it is found to be positive for HIV or Hepatitis, it will be incinerated, as we are not allowed to keep infected blood on our premises.
• Should you test positive for any of the above your medical practitioner will be informed so that you can be appropriately treated and advised.

Other options

If you are not fit enough to donate for yourself, you can ask your doctor about Designated Donation.

This is a procedure where family members or friends with the same blood type as yourself can donate for you as an alternative to using volunteer donor blood. If this type of donation is required, please contact the Autologous Unit at 021 507 6320 for further information.

Autologous Donation (Patient Information)

If you are having non-emergency (planned) surgery and your general health is good, you may be able to donate your own blood for use during the operation.This is known as autologous donation. However, you should only consider this if

• your surgeon anticipates you needing blood.
• your surgeon agrees to the procedure.
• your state of health is acceptable to the Transfusion Service's physicians.

Advantages of autologous donation

By receiving your own blood you run no risk of contracting any infection carried by a volunteer donor. Your blood is always the right "type" for you and therefore there is no
risk of incompatible reaction. We must point out however that the volunteer blood supply is very safe and any risk of contracting an infection is far lower than the potential risks
incurred in any major surgical procedure.

Disadvantages of autologous donation

• It must be planned well in advance of surgery.
• It is slightly more costly than normal transfusion because of the special arrangements for collection, delivery and storage and additional tests performed to make sure you do not become anaemic.
• Should surgery have to be postponed the blood may outdate and will have to be discarded, or else it may be frozen for later use, incurring an additional cost.
• Very rarely, units may be "lost" due to processing and storage problems.
• In the event of unexpected bleeding during surgery it may be necessary to supplement with volunteer donor blood.

Side effects of donation

These will usually be minimal:

• Tiredness or dizziness after donation - prevented by drinking plenty of fluids on the day of donation.
• Mild anaemia due to the frequency of the donation e.g. one unit per week - this is usually avoided by giving you a course of iron tablets.

Donor acceptability

Donors must be in good health and fulfil most of the health requirements of the normal donor.
Acceptable donors:

• Healthy persons between 12-70 years old and preferably over 50kg in weight.
• Haemoglobin level of 11g/dl or more
• Pregnant women may also be accepted provided there are no complications of pregnancy.
• A blood pressure within normal limits.
• A regular pulse rate.

Exceptions to some of the above will be considered by our
Medical Director.
N.B.: You must have eaten and had fluids to drink within a 4-hour period prior to donation.

Non-acceptable donors are persons with:

• severe cardiac disease or those with a history of aneurysms or strokes.
• a history of dental work three days prior to donation.
• a significant bacterial or viral infection.

In some cases persons with these conditions may be able to donate for themselves under supervision of the staff and a doctor. To ensure the safety of the donor, hospitalisation
may be necessary for each donation.

How many units can be donated?

• Your doctor must decide how many units he will need (maximum of 5 units).
• Only one unit can be donated at intervals of 4-7 days, so for 4 units you must allow at least 4 weeks prior to the operation.
• Your last donation should not be less than 3-7 days prior to surgery. This allows adequate recovery from temporary loss of blood volume and proteins.

Costs

The charges are slightly higher than that of having volunteer donor blood to cover additional blood tests and administration. In neither case is there a charge for the blood itself - only for the expenses entailed in the donation process, testing, crossmatch and delivery. All charges are billed to you whether you receive the blood or not, since the costs incurred remain the same. We do not put unused autologous blood units back into our regular blood donor supply unless the donor has been a regular blood donor, fulfils our criteria for donation and has donated within the last 12 months.

How do I arrange this for myself?

• Speak to your surgeon about this option and schedule your operation with sufficient time to allow you to donate the appropriate number of units.
• You and your surgeon will each need to complete the attached "Patient's Consent" form and the "Doctor's Request" form.
• Contact the Autologous Unit at 021 507 6320 and we will schedule your appointments.
• Ask your doctor to put you on a course of iron tablets to prevent anaemia.
  N.B.: Even if your doctor gives his permission for you to donate, the Transfusion
  Service's medical director has the right not to accept you if he/she feels it would
  be unsafe for you to donate.

Download Doctors Request Form
Download Autologous Tariff Sheet
Download Autologous Brochure