Before your visit to the plasma center
Before your first visit to our plasma center, we recommend that you contact us (by phone, per email) to make an appointment for an initial examination. So we can avoid waiting times for you. During our opening hours appointments can also be made in personally. At the initial examination, we will check your suitability for blood plasma donation.
Your first visit at the plasma centre
When you come to our donation centre for your initial examination, please bring the following documents with you:
- valid identification form (e.g. passport, driving licence)
- Registration form
Please register your arrival at reception. Here you will receive all further information. We record your data and by means of a health questionnaire we ask you to answer all questions truthfully and conscientiously. The content of these questions is based on the Blood Safety Act and the Blood Donation Ordinance, among other things. This is the only way to fulfill safety and quality criteria that are essential for the production of blood products.
Afterwards, your vital signs will be checked and your blood pressure, pulse, body temperature and weight measured. You will then receive a thorough examination and a detailed anamnesis interview with one of our doctors. This health check will determine whether you are currently suitable as a plasma donor. In addition, a small amount of blood will be taken from you for laboratory tests. Afterwards you can arrange your first donation appointment.
After about 1 week all your test results are available. If your blood/laboratory results and your state of health are ok, you can donate plasma from that time on. We are happy to welcome you as a qualified new donor.
Your results are valid for 6 months. We ask you to make your first plasma donation during this period.
During the free health check we measure your blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, your weight before each donation and during the donation we measure blood findings such as the haemoglobin level. It also includes a physical examination at regular intervals during which, for example, your heart and lungs are monitored.
Your first donation
What to consider when preparing for a donation:
- Drink a lot! ☺
Please drink at least 2 litres of liquid before the donation, suitable drinks are water, mineral water, juices, coffee and milk only moderately. NO ALCOHOL! - Eat enough! ☺
Eat sufficiently 1-2 hours before your appointment. Avoid fatty foods, if possible also the day before the appointment. High-fat food reduces the quality of plasma. - Sleep enough! ☺
Please come to your donation well rested - Come completely healthy! ☺
It is important that you are healthy and and you fell well
If you come to the donation centre, please register at the receptionn about 10 minutes before your scheduled donation date. Our staff will gladly inform you about the next steps. You will receive your personal blood plasma donor card. Please bring this card with you on each visit.
During the donation
Our staff will accompany you to the donation room, where you will take a seat on a comfortable donation couch. There, blood will be taken from your arm vein and fed into the plasmapheresis machine. There, the cellular blood components (red and white blood cells and thrombocytes) are automatically separated from the plasma. As the plasma is collected, your blood components are automatically returned to you. The plasma is collected in a bag. The donation process takes about 45 to 60 minutes. Relax and enjoy the time for yourself. You will be looked after by our staff during the entire donation process. Finally, the puncture site is connected with a pressure bandage.
The collected blood plasma is tested after each donation for HBV (Hepatitis B Virus), HCV (Hepatitis C Virus), HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and total protein.
After the donation
After the donation we recommend you to give your body a recovery time of about 30 minutes. You can stay in our waiting room where free cold drinks, coffee, newspapers and magazines and Wifi are available. At the reception you will receive a compesation of 40 € as a thank you.
You can rrange your next donation appointment right after your first plasma donation.
Please avoid heavy physical exertion, dangerous activities and driving vehicles if possible.
Your further visits
You can now download our donor app. With it you can arrange your future appointments and receive important information and notifications. For this purpose it would be good if you activate the push notification.
You can also make appointments via our website, by phone or personally during our opening hours.
Cancellation
Appointments that cannot be kept, we ask you kindly to cancel by telephone to give other donors the opportunity to donate. Since every plasma donation is used to produce life-saving medication.
Further medical examinations
In order to determine your state of health and donor suitability, there are a number of examinations that our doctors realize on an ongoing basis.
- Four-monthly examination
A thorough medical examination is repeated periodically every four months. - Six-monthly examination - if you donated more than 6 months ago
If your last donation was more than 6 months ago, then - as with the initial examination - the results of medical reports are required before the next donation. This results in a waiting period of 1 week until the next donation.
Donation year and deadline
Your personal donation year (reference year) begins on the day of your first blood plasma donation at the EUROPLASMA donation centre. This date always remains the same, even if you may not be able to donate for a longer period of time. On this date, the counting of your donations starts again by "1" every year.
Donation frequency
A healthy person can donate the maximum quantity of 700 ml plasma
- once within 72 hours
- twice in 7 days
- three times in 14 days and
- 50 times within a reference year
- The body replaces all components of the donated plasma within 48 hours
If you have any doubts about the use of your plasma, you can always object to the use of your donated plasma. This is possible with the confidential donor self-exclusion.
Vienna 9th district
Phone: +43 1 319 53 63
Retz
Phone: +43 2942 20 333
Seiersberg
Phone: +43 316 29 33 33
Vienna 21st district
Phone: +43 1 908 11 00
Hainburg an der Donau
Phone: +43 2165 52 024
Leoben
Phone: +43 3842 44 404