Canadian Blood Services

After being a regular blood donor for years I was approached to donate platelets. As a result I signed up at the Apheresis Clinic and am able to donate every two weeks.
They have two types of machines, with the more modern one being much faster. Depending on your platelet count it will take 90 minutes, but maybe a bit longer. They have DVD players and a selection of movies if you want something to do.
Although it takes more of your time than a regular donation you are providing a need product to cancer patients. From time to time I find that there is a specific match for mine and that makes me feel special :-)
The staff of nurses have all been there for ages and after a few visits they get to know you.

This is Toronto’s main donation clinic, and is the only one that does plateletpheresis, that’s the blood clotting agent needed by cancer patients.
I’ve been donating platelets here for years, and seen the technology change considerably. With platelets, a donor can make a donation every two weeks, unlike whole-​blood donations that require an eight-​week wait. It is an investment in time to donate platelets, usually a two to three hour commitment, but it is worth it.
Since this is a permanent clinic, it’s the same friendly and competent staff waiting on you. The clinic has really comfortable beds for the one to two hour donation.
On Thursday evenings, there is free pizza, on top of the always free coffee and treats.
The donation process is by appointment only, so please make an appoint today and save a life or two.

«Blood…it’s in you to give»
…yes, Canadian Blood Services has a guilt-​inducing yet catchy tagline but c’mon now, it is just oh so legit. How you ask? Let’s discuss.
Last week I organized a group of friends, 11 friends to be exact, to meet me at the Canadian Blood Services office located at 67 College St. Just to clarify, when I say organized, I called 1−888−2-DONATE a week prior to inquire about booking an appointment and ask the usual «can I donate if» questions… the staff were beyond helpful and even called me back later in the week to confirm that they were holding 11 appointments for all my «generous» friends.
I arrived at Canadian Blood Services around 6pm to find it half full of donors but full of helpful staff members. The staff were beyond giving… I’m assuming that aforementioned tagline also applies in the HR hiring process because every single staff member from intake to the guy that gives you the apple juice and a nice shiny pin at the end of donating were beyond gracious, friendly and most importantly empathetic that you just had a needle stuck in your arm for 5 – 20 minutes (length of time depends on how impressive your veins of steel are).
The office is clean, comfortable and even has a separate lounge area for those who are finished giving blood (or were «cut» from the donating team during the confidential screening process). Even though we ran late donating and were enjoying some lounging time eating Dad’s Oatmeal cookies and drinking juice boxes the staff were not pushy and encouraged us to have more snacks, and stay and «recover» fully even though it was 20 minutes after closing time.
Moral of this story: Go give blood at this location. If not because «it’s in you to give» but because you can lounge and enjoy limitless juice boxes and cookies. I will be giving again in 6 weeks. Great job Canadian Blood Services. Oh, and yep, you’re right… my friends are far better than yours.

This location is one of their permanent clinics and one of the swankiest. You get to make your donation on cozy leather recliners, and their multiplicity of stations means really short wait times. Truly my favourite clinic.
I’ll write this review for the uninitiated. If you’ve never given blood before you might be nervous, but the entire process is quite simple and actually painless.
They accept walk-​ins but appointments are always preferred. Once you sign in, you take a number and wait a few minutes to have your iron levels tested. This is done by pricking your fingertip and analyzing a slide of your blood in a machine. I find this to be the most annoying part of the process but it’s not painful. If your iron levels are high enough (males usually don’t have to worry about this but females might) you get to proceed.
You are then given a booklet to read and a must answer a short questionnaire. Answer the first 13 questions in a private area that resembles a voting booth. It’s tempting to blast through these questions, but read them carefully. You might not qualify based on recent travel, some medication you are taking, or ailments you have had in the past.
After this comes «The Interrogation.» You are taken into a private room, where they take your blood pressure, and ask you personal questions — including ones about your sexual history. Some people find these questions controversial, but obviously their primary concern is the safety of the blood supply.
And once you’ve jumped through all these hoops: it’s needle time! You get to choose which arm you want, though the phlebotomists are keen to meet your most cooperative veins. There is a sharp feeling when the needle goes in, kind of like stepping on a pebble in your shoe. I’ll say this: there are reasons not to donate, but this millisecond of discomfort isn’t a good one. Man up, dawg.
Once stabbed, you just lie there for about 5 – 10 minutes. The needle isn’t noticeable and I usually chat with the RNs and other bloodletters. The more water you’ve had that day the faster the donation, so come hydrated. Five minutes is normal, and they won’t let you spend more than twenty minutes in a chair. While some people feel lightheaded after giving (and usually on their first donation) it’s actually pretty rare to pass out. Once drained, you will be gently escorted to the kitchen for the big prize: cookies and juice and a thank you from a volunteer. This is the only time in my adult life that I eat those jelly filled Peak Freans, so I savour these post-​donation moments.
And that’s it from soup to plasma. You can learn more about the blood donation process, including other things you can donate like plasma, platlets or bone marrow on their website.
And just to squeeze one more entreaty to donate: While I can’t name a single person who _​chooses_​to get seriously sick or in an accident, at least one person reading this review will need blood one day. Lend them yours.
Obligatory Title Pun: I like the way you work it/​BAG it up.
Menu Readability: «Have you ever had sex with someone using clotting factor concentrates?»
Need to mention: Thursday night is pizza night at this clinic.
What this place teaches me about myself: This might be my probably my only opportunity to save a life.