American Red Cross

I was scheduled to donate whole blood today however I received a call yesterday asking if I would consider donating platelets instead. I said yes. Without hesitation.
Lance helped me through the process and was AWESOME. He was very nice and kind. Very attentive and when we had to cut the donation short due to me feeling lightheaded, he assured me that I donated enough and it would definitely help someone.
I will definitely donate platelets again and now knowing what to expect, I hope it is easier.
Thanks Lance!

I came in today around 1:30 to donate whole blood and my iron was high enough! Finally! I came two weekends ago and wasn’t able to donate because my iron was too low. Always bums me out when my iron is too low.
Anyways, I didn’t make an appointment and just walked in. The young woman working the counter was friendly and had me sign in as well as check-​in on the computer. I flipped through the reading material and was about to pick up a magazine when my name was called. I seriously was only waiting for about 5 minutes.
The woman who took me through the prick finger, check temperature and blood pressure, questions on the computer routine was great. When she pricked my finger it seriously did not hurt at all! I am pressing on it right now and it is not sore what-​so-​ever! Best finger pricker ever! I wish I had looked at her name tag or asked her for her name so I could give her a shout out.
A different phlebotomist named Chris was the one who actually drew my blood. Chris was divine. He was great with the small talk and it was such a small pinch when he put the needle in my arm, that the pain was basically non-​existent. He was totally cool with lifting the cotton off of my arm so I could get a gruesome picture of the needle in my arm. I really liked that he made a point of telling me exactly what he was going to do before he did it. I am hoping to have him as my phlebotomist for future visits.
As always, the after donation refreshments and snacks are delicious. Today was easily my best experience at this location so far. See you guys in 56 days!

My wife does this on a regular basis… quick easy

Donating blood is something I have done fo over 12 years on a reular basis, so when I got a postcard asking for a platelet doantion, I went and made an appointment. I went in 15 minutes early. Just over three hours later, I left. The donation itself was fine. The Nurse, not so much. I felt like I did something wrong soon as I met her, she seemed bothered I came in and was doing this kind of donation. Kept saying «we will try «…over and over about ever aspect of the donation. Right before I left, she thanked me «for trying» and that I should stick to whole blood. WOW!
The other nurses were quite friendly with my other donations. Even the other nurses in the deppartment were friendly. Maybe it was just on off day. I still will donate blood, here there or Blood Centers of the Pacific. I donate my blood to help, not hinder a person.

I donate platelets here every 2 weeks. That’s 2 ½ — 3 hours each visit & I actually enjoy it. The team is very professional yet personable. It’s almost like a spa day for me… except perhaps for the needles.

Excellent service, accommodating staff, super friendly, and very professional. Very clean and very well equipped. Good snacks and drinks, too. Just a great place for a great cause. They clearly love what they do.

I have been donating whole blood and apheresis at this facility for many, many years. The staff is friendly, professional and the appointments are easy to schedule. I’ve never had to wait, even if I didn’t have an appointment. When you give blood, you give the gift of life to someone. How much more special can it get than that !
If you go there, maybe you’ll be lucky and get to be assisted in the donation by Brittney. She walks you through all the steps and is very congenial and professional. She is the best !!!
The donation procedure only takes a few minutes but to someone in need, those few moments may be the difference between life and death. Give blood — give life !

The staff at Pleasant Hill’s Red Cross is friendly and fast!
I donate blood every chance I get. When they call me to let me know I’m eligible again to donate, I set a plan for myself to head to the East Bay. Even though I live all the way out in San Francisco, I make the trek out to Pleasant Hill to donate blood because of how pleasant my experiences are there.
Most of the regular staff knows my face now, being the repeat donor that I am, and I feel at home when I arrive. I don’t think I’ve waited in the front lobby for more than 2 minutes before having my name called to begin the process. The staff is thorough and explain everything they’re doing. Even though it’s all repeat information for me nowadays, it’s refreshing to see that everyone gets the same experience and that they air on the side of over-​communication rather than limited information. I really appreciate that about the Red Cross.
Thank you, Red Cross! And I’ll see you in another 56 days!

I donate platelets here usually every 10 to 14 days. The staff is absolutely wonderful I have been coming here for about 10 years and feel like family when I walk in. For the person who said you can’t get a tattoo or piercings, it depends on where you have them done. If the piercings are single needle use and sterile procedure you are fine. As for tattoos, California is not regulated so go to Oregon or Neveda and get it done in a regulated shop and you are good to go. I find it very rewarding to donate platelets on a regualr basis. It helps so many people, I get to watch movies and seriously the staff is really great.

Have donated here three or four times and it has always been a quick and pleasant experience.
Two suggestions to prepare:
I suggest you go on the website and check out the requirements first. Especially check out the travel and medication restrictions. Women are disqualified if they’re too small and tatoos/​peircings are «verboten». Behaviors associated with sexually transmitted diseases are, naturally, also grounds for disqualification. (No sense in showing up if you’re going to be turned away, right?) If it’s all good, then make an appointment online.
Before you go, drink lots of water. It will make your blood flow much quicker and you’ll get through in a jiffy.
Experience there:
In a private room, you’ll be asked to respond to a lot of personal questions on a computer, which can seem intrusive .(Just remember they’re trying to keep everyone safe.) Then they’ll check your blood iron levels (from a finger prick), blood pressure and pulse. If all systems are «go» you proceed to the next room.
You’ll sit in a dentist-​style chair and get an IV in one arm from which the blood will be drawn. If you’ve drunk lots of water, it will take about 20 minutes or so. If you feel cold, ask for a blanket and they’ll be happy to oblige.
After your donation, they ask you to sit for a while in a lounge, in which you are encouraged to enjoy some juice or coffee and some cookies, crackers, raisins – that kind of thing. Sweet volunteers are there to help you. Ten minutes is plenty, and you’re on your way.
Total time for me: 45 minutes. Could save a couple of lives. So, if you can, why not?

I’ve always wanted to donate blood and the want for my first tattoo has propelled me to schedule an appointment. Figured I’d donate a couple of times before I get a tattoo.
Pre-​appointment experience:
Scheduled an appointment online — an easy process! The website is easy to navigate. The website even gives you tips on how to have a pleasant experience, reminding you to be well-​rested and well-​hydrated, etc. Good information for first-​timers!
Got a reminder phone call — always welcome if you’re a smartphone user like me, who fails to calendar important dates!
Appointment itself:
Pleasant with minor glitches. I was in and out within the expected time frame. The volunteers were friendly and helpful, the staff was friendly. One lady in white coat was super concerned to make my first donation a pleasant experience it was almost annoying. It’s all good. I understand no one wants anyone to faint nor vomit. The guy in white coat that drew my blood was really nice throughout the process. I brought my tablet, anticipating a long wait but they were on schedule, unlike the one in Rockridge.
Will definitely come back here in 2 or 3 months. But for a later appointment so I could eat a light breakfast first before coming, else I’ll be causing too much of a concern again!

I try to donate as much as possible. I have been to this location several times over the past few years. I have to say the last two times I have been there I was there for over an hour :(once because they could not find my blood pressure and 3 different people had to assist in finding it. The other time it took them over 30 minutes to find out whether or not I could donate because I had been out of the country. I only had one other bad experience with a nurse who no longer is there. Overall the its clean and the people are friendly.

Try and get here every 56 days as blood is always in short supply. The staff is friendly and competent. I am really impressed by the way the comment cards get read. One staff member encouraged me to write and said they always want to hear what the donors think.
First request more healthy snacks. Now they have raisins and trail mix! Next request why do the free t shirts always have to be white? How about a different color? The next time t-​shirts were given out they were gray! Very practical.
Red Cross leadership thanks for listening. Parking is always convenient.
Derek

I have been going to this blood bank for about 15 years. I donate every 8 weeks (or as soon as I can). The staff here are so kind, well trained, snacks are good, they have POG, and good magazines. What more can you want? It’s like a little vacation from my kids… for a good cause.

The American Red Cross is an agency I love to support with dinero and blood. Red Cross is very active in the local community. I usually run into their representatives at community events. The agency is known for their humanitarian work around the word but their presence can be felt locally through CPR classes (adults, children, infants & animals), the blood banks, and the courses on,
Disaster Response and Recovery,
Disaster Preparedness,
Disease Prevention, and
Exploring Humanitarian Law.
The blood bank in Pleasant Hill is clean and staffed with friendly people. For a pint of blood you get a snacks, usually an interesting story and the possibility of saving a life. Call to make an appointment or set it up online.
Their local services and international aid are match by few and I look forward to interacting with them.

After donating blood regularly here for a year, blood drives at the college I attend simply don’t cut it for me anymore! I never cared for the bustling atmosphere at drives, so the center is a welcomed alternative. The people and atmosphere are really pleasant, and I look forward to returning every 8 weeks.

I give platelets at this location once a month — I’ve been coming here for a couple years (since I moved back to the Bay Area after having done this for 15 years in Los Angeles).
The folks here are really nice and this is one of the best Red Cross centers I’ve ever been to. Everything is top notch. The only reason I don’t give this place the full five stars is every other time I go here they’re either training someone or the person injecting the needles doesn’t do a good job and the needle goes through my vein into my arm. When they release the solution it really hurts. This happened maybe twice in 15 years in LA and it’s happened half the time I’ve been going here.
Otherwise, no complaints. I hope everyone will give platelets. It helps kids with Leukemia. You come here, watch a movie and that’s it. They have netflix disks so they usually have new movies, plus a large selections of disks they own. The chairs are top notch and they have nice flat screen TVs on every chair (for platelets that is). You can bring in your own movie if you want or just watch TV. You can give platelets every two weeks if you want.

So I felt like saving a life today and decided to donate blood. It’s my second time donating blood to the Red Cross. My first time was like 5 years ago. First experience wasn’t bad so I wasn’t nervous at all.
Came here and immediately had really good service. Everyone’s so freakin nice, it’s amazing! Okay, so of course you have to do a screening process first before giving blood.
Sign in and get a free appetizer coupon to Mimi’s Café. CHECK.
Answer any personal questions about your health. CHECK.
Minimum IRON level of 12.5. CHECK.
Normal blood pressure. CHECK.
There, I passed. and I was good to go. Sat on the chair while the tech examined my veins. She had a really hard time finding one since my veins are small, but she did the best she could. The injection didn’t hurt at all. but the part when she moved around the needle to get better blood flow – was a bitch. WTH. Not suppose to hurt like that. But I sucked it up.
So a minute in, she decided that my blood flow wasn’t as quick as usual and getting a pint would take all day. Since she had a hard time initially locating a bigger vein, she couldn’t get in my vein valve when she injected the needle, and moving it would only lead to contamination. So she had no choice but to withdraw from the process.
Damn. I guess I’ll save a life another day. Now, lets just hope I don’t swell up from this =/​
So 3 stars. I’m not trying to hate on Red Cross or anything, but I’m hoping next time around would be a better experience.
NEXT TIME. I’ll make sure to drink a GALLON of water so the tech won’t have a tough time locating my veins!!!

Because my veins are so small, it it usually too difficult to commit to donating blood every 8 weeks, so I typically go every 10 – 12 weeks. When I was at the blood center on Saturday morning, Barb was the technician who drew my blood. Not only did she hit her mark so fast and efficiently, but she was able to collect my pint of blood very quickly and for the first time — I didn’t bruise!
If you want to do your part for your fellow human beings, consider being a blood donor. I just got my pin for donating a gallon of blood :-)

I go here every 8 weeks to donate blood. If you are physically able, I highly recommend donating blood. It’s an easy way to make a difference and help out other human beings.
The Red Cross also has mobile donation clinics but those are usually buses so if you are in the least bit nervous about donating blood and/​or claustrophobic, then I suggest going to a non-​mobile blood center. This blood center is very spacious. Sometimes it’s a bit cold inside but they have hand warmers and blankets available if you need them.
The staff here are always super nice and they often have little giveaways for donating blood. They are also very talkative which makes the time fly by but they still get you in and out of there in about an hour.
They have good snacks here. Sweet and salty selections and they let you take one before AND after you donate. They also have passion-​guava juice which is my favorite.
In addition to the staff they also have volunteers who, after you donate, treat you like you just saved a bunch of babies and puppies from a burning building. I don’t donate blood for any sort of recognition but it’s nice that there are people who are so appreciative.