Donating for Friends and Family
(Directed Donation)

For patients who are unable to donate blood for their own use (due to age or medical conditions), options include blood from the volunteer blood supply, or blood from family members or friends (directed donations).

A Precaution You Should Be Aware Of:

Although the blood supply today is very safe, some patients prefer to receive blood from people they know – "directed donors". There is no medical evidence that blood from directed donations is safer than that from volunteer donors. In some cases this blood may be less safe because donors who are known to the patient may not reveal potentially embarrassing information about their personal history, assuming that blood tests will detect any infection. The fact is, blood tests do not always detect viruses. Therefore, if blood were donated by someone whose recent behavior has put them at risk of HIV or other viruses, it could pass our screening measures and transmit disease to a patient.

General Information

1. A physician's order is needed, specifying the amount and type of blood that is needed.
2. You may then call our Special Collections office at 1-800-669-4348 or
   408-577-2000 to learn about the requirements for your donors.
   These include:

• You (or your designee) must provide a list of approved donors whose blood type is compatible with yours.
• Prepayment for this service is required in most instance; exceptions to some fees may include medicare, medical, worker compensation and Kaiser patients.
• If the donor is a blood relative (e.g., parent, son/daughter, brother or sister), this blood must be irradiated to prevent a serious complication called "graft-versus-host" disease. There is an additional charge for this.
• Donors should call as soon as possible to schedule their appointment, which must not be closer than 5 working days before the date the blood is needed.
• Donors must bring a form of legal identification (driver's license, etc.).

3. Blood from these donors is processed and tested the same as regular donations. If a donor is found to be unsuitable, due to abnormal test results or medical history findings, this information is kept confidential, and provided only to the donor (by letter, usually within 2 weeks).
4. Directed donations that pass all requirements will be tagged specifically for your use and shipped to your hospital within 5 working days. They will be stored separately from other units of blood.