The national authority encourages blood donation for individuals aged 18 to 55 who have no previous adverse reactions to blood donation and meet the health examination requirements. Repeat donors who actively request to donate again can have their age limit extended to 60 years old.
Minimum weight requirement for blood donors: 50 kg for males, 45 kg for females.
Healthy adult whole blood donors can donate up to 400 ml of blood at a time, and the interval between whole blood donations should not be less than 6 months.
Women should temporarily defer blood donation during menstruation, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. Those with high blood pressure, diabetes, and abnormal liver or kidney function cannot donate blood.
The on-site staff must also conduct necessary health checks and initial blood screenings for blood donors, and only those who fully meet the "Requirements for Health Examination of Blood Donors" can donate blood.
According to the physical condition of the blood donor and the results of the health examination, a comprehensive judgment is made on whether the donor is suitable for blood donation. Qualified blood donors can donate no more than 400 milliliters of blood each time.
For blood donors, under normal circumstances, the liver, spleen and other internal organs of the human body store about 20% of the total blood volume as "reserve" blood. After blood donation, the body will automatically regulate and promptly replenish the "reserve" blood back into the peripheral blood circulation. Therefore, a single blood donation of no more than 400 ml will not affect health.
Of course, the more secure and convenient vessel should be chosen.
The elbow's median vein is used for blood donation. This is because veins are generally located on the surface of the body, with slower blood flow, making them easier to draw blood from. Arteries, on the other hand, are typically located deeper in the dermis, making them more difficult to locate, and their faster blood flow makes it harder to stop the bleeding after blood is drawn.
The blood donated by each blood donor is tested by the blood station. Those whose test results meet the national standards are classified as qualified blood and stored in the blood bank refrigerator, ready to save patients at any time.
The blood station will strictly follow the relevant national regulations to disinfect and dispose of unqualified blood according to the regulations.
Recipients of inactivated vaccines, recombinant DNA vaccines, and toxoid injections
If without any symptoms or adverse reactions, the vaccine recipients can engage in blood donation until 24 hours after receiving the vaccine, including typhoid vaccine, freeze-dried inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine, adsorbed diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis combined vaccine, inactivated hepatitis A vaccine, recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, and inactivated whole-virus influenza vaccine.
Recipients of attenuated live vaccines
Individuals can donate blood two weeks after receiving the final dose of live vaccines for measles, mumps, and polio, or four weeks after receiving the final dose of live vaccines for rubella, human rabies, and Japanese encephalitis.
Recipients of vaccines due to exposure history
Individuals who have received rabies vaccinations after being bitten by animals are not eligible to donate blood until one year after their last immunization.
Recipient of biological product therapy
Individuals who have received antitoxin and immune serum injections can donate blood four weeks after their last injection, including tetanus antitoxin, rabies antiserum, and others. Those who have received hepatitis B immunoglobulin injections can donate blood one year later.
Whether this is your first time donating blood or you donate regularly, the blood station must ensure that donating blood will not cause any harm to you. This includes checking your blood to ensure it can be safely transfused to others.
Before donating blood, the staff will ask you about your medical history, including any medications you are currently taking, as well as your current health condition and lifestyle. They may also ask about your recent travel history; if you live in a country that is malaria-free, they may ask if you have recently visited tropical countries. The sole purpose of these questions is to protect your own health and the health of the recipient of your blood. The staff will inform you whether you are eligible to donate blood, and if you are not currently eligible, whether you may be able to donate in the future. Any personal information you provide is confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.
It is very important to candidly inform you of any reason why your blood may not meet the requirements. Staff will routinely test the blood, checking for infections that can be transmitted through blood transfusion, such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis, but may not be able to detect recent infections. This means that even if the blood test results show no infection, the donated blood may still infect the patient receiving the transfusion.
After answering these questions, the staff will conduct a simple physical examination, which may include measuring your pulse and blood pressure, and ensuring that your weight meets a specific minimum. Then, the staff will take a drop of blood from your fingertip to check whether donating blood will make you anemic. Your health is very important to the blood donation service. Your blood will only be collected if you meet the criteria for safe blood donation.
Donating blood is very simple. You will be asked to maintain a comfortable position, usually sitting or lying on a special chair or bed while donating. Trained healthcare workers will disinfect the inside of your elbow with a sterilizing agent, then insert a sterile needle into your vein. Donating blood usually takes around 10 minutes.
Rest for 10 or 15 minutes, have a snack, and then you can resume normal activity. However, after donating blood, you should avoid heavy physical work for the rest of the day. Over the next 24 hours, you should drink plenty of fluids or other beverages.
Safe blood can save lives. Women with complications during pregnancy and childbirth, children with severe anemia (often caused by malaria or malnutrition), accident victims, and surgical and cancer patients all need blood transfusions.
Blood can only be stored for a limited time before use, so a continuous and regular supply of blood is needed. There needs to be a sufficient number of healthy people donating blood regularly to ensure a constant supply of blood is available at all times.
Blood is a gift of life, the most precious gift one can give to another. Donating blood can save a life, and if your donated blood is separated into red blood cells, platelets, and plasma, it can save multiple lives of people with specific diseases.