Autologous and Directed Donations

Autologous Donations (Self-Donation)

Autologous donations are blood donations that individuals give for their own use – for example, before a surgery.

Requirements for an Autologous Donation

Autologous donations require a Red Cross Special Collections Order form signed by your physician which serves as a prescription for this service. The order must be received by the Red Cross several weeks prior to the anticipated need.
You or your physician can request the required Red Cross autologous order form be faxed or emailed to the physician’s office. (Contact information is listed at the bottom of the page.)
You must be in reasonably good health. You will not be allowed to self-donate if you have an active infection and you may not be allowed if you have a heart condition.
There is no age limitation for autologous donation, but you must weigh at least 110 pounds.
Unless otherwise directed by a physician, you may safely donate blood every four to seven days before your surgery if you meet the donation guidelines.

Many physicians prefer patients not have an autologous donation within 7 days of surgery.
Acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin and alcohol should be avoided for 48 hours before your donation.
Your hemoglobin will be checked and must be at a satisfactory level before donating or you will not be allowed to donate. A physician may prescribe iron supplements to prevent you from testing too low, especially if you have been anemic or are making more than one autologous donation.
If blood loss during your surgery is less than anticipated, transfusing the autologous blood may not be medically necessary. If the autologous blood is not used during surgery, it is discarded since current safety standards do not allow its transfusion to other patients.

Directed Donations

A directed donation occurs when a patient's ABO and Rh compatible family members and/or friends donate blood for his or her upcoming procedure. A patient must have his/her physician submit a Red Cross Special Collections Order form for the Red Cross to collect blood from the selected donors. Once a completed, signed form is received, a specialized scheduling team will contact the donors to arrange appointments at designated collection centers and shipment to participating transfusion services.

Carefully consider the following:

There is no evidence that patients can select safer donors than the volunteer blood system provides.
All donated blood products are tested with the same tests for HIV and other infectious diseases, which further enhances the safety of the blood supply.
Social pressure associated with directed donations may compromise the reliability of the donor’s answers to health-history questions

The Red Cross accepts both directed and regular donations and encourages eligible donors to give blood for patients in need.

Special Collections Order Form

Contact SpecialCollections@redcross.org to determine the availability of services in your area. Include your name, phone number, transfusion facility, city and state. Alternatively, you can call the Special Collections team during normal business hours M-F. For Northeast locations call 800-634-9069, Southeast call 800-458-5093, Central call 800-644-9435, and West call 800-696-1757.