Blood Donors and the Withdrawal of Blood

This chapter includes a discussion of therapeutic phlebotomy, but is mainly concerned with the withdrawal of blood or its constituent parts from healthy donors for transfusion to patients. The chapter addresses qualification of the donor, statistics regarding collection and use, blood shortages and conditions that disqualify donors. Complications of blood donation including iron loss, syncope and needle injuries, and other less common adverse events are discussed. The chapter outlines some applications of therapeutic phlebotomy and blood withdrawal during neonatal exchange transfusion. The Blood Collection Service should provide informational literature for prospective blood donors. Introduction of standardized and validated questionnaires and the application of interactive computer - assisted audiovisual health history may reduce errors and misinterpretations during conduct of the donor interview. Laboratory monitoring can help manage the repeat blood donor.