Plasma Donation Process
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00:00We're taking you behind the scenes of OneBlood to show you the massive, coordinated effort taking place around the clock to collect, test, and distribute COVID-19 convalescent plasma.
00:12It all starts here at OneBlood.org.
00:15This is where people who have recovered from the coronavirus submit their information to see if they qualify to be a convalescent plasma donor.
00:23Once all their paperwork is submitted and approved, we schedule their plasma donation.
00:27Hi, this is Martha calling from OneBlood.
00:30OneBlood is collecting convalescent plasma seven days a week throughout its service area.
00:36Plasma from these donors is unique because it contains antibodies to the coronavirus.
00:41And when their plasma is transfused to people still fighting the virus, it can potentially help them recover.
00:48As soon as the donor is finished donating, their donation is packed up and rushed by a OneBlood courier and arrives here at our OneBlood Biologics Lab.
00:57It's checked in and immediately handed off to a person who prepares the donation for processing.
01:03There are two ways a donor can donate their plasma, either through an automated process where only the plasma is collected, or by donating whole blood where all the components of the donor's blood are collected.
01:16To extract the plasma from a whole blood donation, the unit of blood is placed into a centrifuge.
01:22Minutes later, it emerges.
01:26The red blood cells are now at the bottom, and the platelets and plasma have been pushed to the top.
01:31From there, the unit is placed into a squeezing device known as an expressor, and the plasma is extracted.
01:38The other way a person can donate plasma is through an automated process where all the components of the donor's blood are actually separated in this machine during the actual donation.
01:48When these donations arrive in Biologics, they skip the centrifuge and are separated into multiple units of plasma.
01:56Regardless of the donation method, the prepared units of plasma are validated and head for a specialized refrigerator, where they will remain until the test results are in.
02:07At the start of each donation, several test tubes of blood are collected from the donor.
02:14These test tubes are what will be used for testing.
02:18The test tubes take a different path and are taken by a courier to OneBlood's testing facility.
02:23More than a dozen tests must be performed to ensure the donation is safe, a process that takes several hours to complete.
02:31When the results are in, they are immediately relayed back to the Biologics lab, and things play out quickly.
02:38As you can see, it's a very urgent situation.
02:41The plasma is quickly labeled, packed up, and handed directly to a OneBlood courier, who rushes the convalescent plasma to the hospital.
02:50It's a team effort to save lives, an effort that takes place at OneBlood 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
02:59For OneBlood, I'm Susan Forbes.