Donating whole blood, platelets, or plasma
Thank you for considering donating blood, platelets, or plasma. The Blood Donor Program is incredibly grateful for your willingness to help patients in our local communities. Please contact us to schedule an appointment, or schedule online.
New FDA guidance for individual risk assessment for blood donation
Dartmouth Health has implemented the new FDA guidance, which significantly changes acceptance criteria for blood donation. The most important change eliminates questions regarding sexual orientation. This change will make the blood donation process more inclusive, welcoming many members of the LGBTQ+ community who were previously ineligible to donate blood. The new Donor History Questionnaire asks the same questions of all prospective donors, regardless of gender and sexual orientation.
The FDA continues to review research data to ensure the blood supply remains safe. In addition to asking donors to answer screening questions, all blood donations are tested against a number of infectious diseases to further ensure safety.
We encourage all current and prospective donors to review this new Donor History Questionnaire to fully appreciate the significant changes to this document and its openness to all qualified donors.
Learn more about the FDA's new guidance
FDA changes guidance for geographical-risk blood donors
Were you told you cannot donate blood because of a past geographical risk? Well, now you can!
The FDA has new guidance for blood donors of geographic risk to reduce the risk of transmission of:
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
- Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease