Dual centre rare in Quebec

Héma-Québec recruiting new blood donors

Gatineau’s recently opened Blood Donor Centre is seeking new donors. Héma-Québec is inviting anyone who has ever thought of donating blood to do so now. The non-profit association hopes to welcome 500 donors weekly to the new centre, and is inviting donors to experience donating plasma at the new Plasma Donor Lounge.

Plasmavie was created to enable Héma-Québec to increase its plasma self-sufficiency and, in turn, to reduce purchasing it abroad. The lounge specializes in collecting plasma for use in manufacturing medications, using the apheresis technique that collects only the desired blood components. Unlike blood donations, these specific collections can be made every six days, up to 50 times a year.

The Gatineau Plasma Donor Lounge, 205 Bellehumeur Street, includes a blood donation area. The centre cost $3 million and employs 25 workers who collect about 500 donations a week. The donating process takes about an hour and a half.

According to Héma-Québec, plasma can be collected in two ways. It is either extracted from whole blood by centrifugation and fragmentation, or it is extracted using an apheresis device. “This device collects whole blood, separates the plasma from the red blood cells, places the plasma in a collection bag and returns the red blood cells to the donor.”

Héma-Québec stated that “the annual goal of 25,000 donations in the Gatineau facility is vital to ensure that patients receive transfusions or medications manufactured from the plasma collected. Demand is high. Héma-Québec must collect more than 200,000 litres of plasma each year between now and 2020 to meet these needs. Héma-Québec currently collects about 45,000 litres.”

Plasmavie is the second Plasma Donor Lounge to include a GLOBULE blood donation area in Québec. Those interested can register their plan to donate or learn more about plasma donation by calling, toll-free, 1 800 343-SANG (7264).