Before giving blood
How to prepare to give blood?
A few hours before donating
Drink at least 500 ml of water or juice and make sure to eat well while avoiding fatty foods (e.g., cheese, fried foods, etc.).
Reminder
Wear clothing with sleeves that can be raised above the elbow.
Bring a photo ID (health insurance card, driver's licence or passport) or your donor card.
- Please note that student or employee cards are not accepted.
What you need to know
At the blood collection site
We will ask you some questions about your health status and risky behaviors related to communicable diseases.
We will verify your temperature. Depending on the type of donation you make, we will also check your levels of :
- hemoglobin (hemoglobin is a protein containing iron that is found in red blood cells);
- platelets;
- proteins;
- white blood cells.
And we will ask you to sign a consent to donation.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ACCORDING TO THE PRODUCT COLLECTED
BEFORE DONATION | WHOLE BLOOD | PLASMA | RED BLOOD CELLS | PLATELETS | WHITE BLOOD CELLS | COMBINED DONATION1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(apheresis) | (apheresis) | (apheresis) | (apheresis) | (apheresis) | ||
Drink at least 500 ml of water or juice | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Make sure to eat well while avoiding fatty foods (e.g., cheese, fried foods, etc.) | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Answer questions about: | ||||||
- health status; | X | X | X | X | X | X |
- risky behaviors related to communicable diseases. | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Agree to have Héma-Québec check: | ||||||
- temperature; | X | X | X | X | X | X |
- hemoglobin levels; | X | X | X | X | X | X |
- platelet levels; | X | X2 | ||||
- protein levels; | X3 | X4 | ||||
- white blood cell levels. | X | |||||
Sign a consent to donation. | X | X | X | X | X | X |
1 Examples of combined donations: double red blood cell donation; double platelet and plasma donation; platelets, plasma and red blood cells; platelets and plasma, and platelets and red blood cells.
2 For combined donations that contain platelets.
3 For frequent donors.
4 For frequent donors making a combined donation of platelets and plasma or a double donation of platelets and plasma.