Donor Criteria

Blood donors must go through a selection process each time they donate. The purpose is two-fold:

• To protect the donor, who should suffer no harm by donating.
• To protect the recipient by identifying donors
  - with, or at risk for, an infection that could be transmitted to the recipient via blood transfusion
  - who are taking medication or whose blood could, for some other reason, be harmful to a recipient.

Criteria for autologous donation is modified as these units do not cross over into the allogeneic blood supply. They are discarded if not used for the patient who donated them. Please see criteria for hospital-based autologous donations.

From the main CBS Web site:

General Criteria
Temporary Deferral
Indefiite Deferral
"Record of Donation" Questionnaire

Further Reading

Note: Canadian Blood Services offers no endorsement of and assumes no liability for the currency, accuracy, or availability of any information on these sites.

• Chiavetta JA, Deeks S, Goldman M, Hannon J, Leach-Bennett J, Megann H, O'Brien S, Webert K. Proceedings of a consensus conference: blood-borne HIV and hepatitis - optimizing the donor Selection Process. Transfusion Medicine Reviews. Jan. 2003; 17(1):1-30. [Medline]
• Halperin D, Baetens J, Newman B. The effect of short-term, temporary deferral on future blood donation. Transfusion 1998 Feb.; 38(2):181-3. [ Medline ]