Blood Donor Eligibility

To give blood, donors must:

• be at least 17 years of age or 16 with signed parental consent
• weigh at least 110 pounds
• be in good health
• have proof of identification

Blood can be donated every eight weeks. Platelets can be donated every two weeks. Double red-cell donations can be made every 16 weeks.

Potential donors may be temporarily or permanently ineligible to donate because of issues related to their medical history or travel to some countries (see below).

If you are unsure of your eligibility, please call the Blood Donor Center at (910)615-LIFE (615-5433).

FDA Restrictions Based on International Travel

If you had been previously deferred by our donor center from giving blood for risks associated with malaria and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as mad cow disease, you may be eligible today based on updated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.

You can be exposed to malaria through travel and travel in some areas can sometimes defer donors. If you have traveled outside of the United States and Canada, your travel destinations will be reviewed at the time of donation. If you have traveled in the past three months or lived in the past three years where malaria is endemic, you may be deferred from giving.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), are infectious diseases that may be transmitted through a blood transfusion. There are no tests to detect these diseases in blood, which is why the FDA mandates special precautions to protect the blood supply. In alignment with new FDA guidelines, the Blood Donor Center will keep in place permanent vCJD-related deferrals for the following individuals:

• Donors who have spent 3 months or more cumulatively in the United Kingdom (i.e., England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands) from 1980 to 1996.
• Donors who have spent 5 years or more cumulatively in France or Ireland from 1980 to 2001.
• Donors who have received a blood transfusion in the U.K., France or Ireland from 1980 to present.

In alignment with new FDA guidelines due to the extremely low risk for transmission, the following donors will no longer be permanently deferred:

• Donors previously deferred for time spent in other European countries (excluding the permanent deferral criteria for France and Ireland as listed above).
• Donors previously deferred for time spent on U.S. military bases in Europe.
• Donors previously deferred for use of bovine insulin.

For more information, please call the Blood Donor Center at (910)615-LIFE (615-5433).

The Blood Donor Center is open for donations Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on the third Saturday of each month, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.