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Eligibility FAQ's

Eligibility

    • The COVID-19 vaccine does not impact blood donation eligibility. Donors are eligible to donate the same day they receive any of the COVID-19 vaccines.

    • Individuals diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19 should refrain from donating blood for at least 10 days after complete resolution of symptoms or after the date of the positive test.

    • Donors with diabetes who take any kind of insulin are eligible to donate as long their diabetes is well controlled.

    • Individuals who are currently pregnant are NOT eligible to donate. After giving birth, it will be a wait time of 6 weeks until you could be deemed eligible to donate.

    • You are eligible to donate after dental procedures as long as there is no infection present. Wait until finishing antibiotics for a dental infection. Wait for 3 days after having oral surgery.

    • If you take Aspirin, there is no waiting period for donating whole blood. However, if you plan on donating platelets by apheresis, you must wait 2 full days after taking aspirin or any medication containing aspirin before your scheduled donation date. For example, if you take aspirin products on Monday, the soonest you may donate platelets is Thursday.

    • Women on oral contraceptives or using other forms of birth control are eligible to donate.

    • When coming to your appointment, we ask that you bring any form of identification. Other than that, all you need to bring is yourself! Before the donation process, you will go through what we call a, “history screening,” where you will complete a series of health and lifestyle questions and receive a mini-physical where a team member will check your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and hemoglobin level by pricking your finger to ensure you are healthy to donate.

    • When travelling outside of the United States and Canada, you can be exposed to Malaria through travel. Travel in some areas can sometimes defer donors. If you have traveled outside of the United States and Canada, your travel destinations will be reviewed at the time of donation. If you have traveled or lived in a malaria-risk country, we may require a waiting period before you can donate blood. We ask that you come to your appointment to donate with all of your travel details prepared for your history screening. If you have been outside the United States or Canada within the past 3 years, you will be asked a series of questions. Be prepared to answer questions similar to these:   What countries did you visit?   Where did you travel while in this country?   Did you leave the city or resort at any time?   If yes, where did you go?   What mode of transportation did you use?   How long did you stay?   What date did you return to the U.S.?

    • If you donated whole blood, you have to wait 56 days (eight weeks) since your last donation to be eligible to donate again. If you donated automated, double red cells, you will have to wait 112 days before you can donate again.

    • If there is no sign of infection, you are eligible to donate. Stiches and casts are also acceptable.

    • If you have been seizure-free for 6 months, you are eligible to donate.

    • If you were pierced with single use equipment, you can donate. Otherwise, there will be a 3 month deferral. Acupuncture is acceptable if performed using sterile/single-use needles.

    • You can donate one day after any of the following if your treatment has been completed and you are feeling well: cleaning, fillings, crown preparation, temporary/permanent crown placement, extraction and root canal.

    • If you are not taking an antibiotic on the day of donation, you are fine to donate. If recently on antibiotic treatment for an infection, you do need to complete taking all medication as directed by your doctor prior to the day of donation. Antibiotics taken to prevent infections are generally acceptable. An example of this would be antibiotic treatment for acne.

    • There is no deferral period if you received a tattoo in a licensed facility in any of the following states: Iowa, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington or Wisconsin.

    • For most types of cancer, donors are eligible to donate once treatment is completed. Those who have had a leukemia or lymphoma are not eligible to donate and are permanently deferred. Please contact us with your specific cancer type for eligibility information.

    • Most donors can increase their iron levels through diet. For more information about iron levels, click here!

    • LifeServe Blood Center is regulated by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure safety guidelines for the blood supply. The current FDA policy states that any blood donor, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, who has had anal sex with a new and/or multiple partners will be required to wait to donate three months from the date of the donation attempt. 

      If the donor has not had new and/or multiple partners in the last three months, there is no risk of a newly acquired transfusion-transmitted infection and the donor is able to donate, if they meet all other eligibility criteria. 

    • Yes. All of our materials and processes are currently only available to English speaking donors. We are working on expanding this other languages so stay tuned for future updates.

    • Unfortunately at this time the donor needs to be able to speak English throughout the entire blood donation process. We are working on expanding this to other languages so stay tuned for future updates.

    • Individuals who have taken oral PrEP or PEP, will be deferred from donation for three months from their most recent use. For individuals who have received PrEP by injection, the FDA recommends deferral from blood donation for two years from their most recent injection. This longer deferral for injectable forms of PrEP is due to the increased duration of effect that this form of the medications has.

double red donation

plasma donation

platelet eligibility

whole blood eligibility

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