Thank you for your interest in donating at
our donor center on the UC Irvine campus. We truly appreciate your support. The
UCI Medical Center transfuses over 1000 units of blood to our patients each
month. That means we need at least 1000 people to donate each and every month.
We recommend reading the basic donation requirements prior to
making your appointment. You can find them here: http://www.ucihealth.org/medical-services/blood-donations
IMPORTANT COVID-19 INFORMATION: Please note that if you
have had any of the following symptoms in the last 14 days you will not be able
to donate- Fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, shortness of breath,
unexpected fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, headache, diarrhea,
vomiting or nausea.
Please read the following deferrals related to
COVID-19 before making an appointment.
1) if you are living with someone or had exposure to someone with
Covid, you must wait 14 days and be totally symptom free during that time.
2) If you had Covid, you need to be symptom free for 14 days prior
to donating
3) if you received the
Pfizer, Moderna or J & J Covid vaccines, there is no deferral. If you
received any other COVID vaccines or were part of a study which required you to
receive another Covid vaccine, you must wait 1 year to donate or until that
vaccine has received approval in the U.S.
Please complete and submit this online donor form. Appointments
are currently available for the time selections shown. Thank you for
volunteering to donate and we look forward to seeing you at the UCI Campus
Blood Donor Center. If you have any questions or would prefer to make your
appointment over the phone, please contact us at 949-824-2662 or at ibleedblue@uci.edu
About Our Appointment Options
Thank you for your interest in donating blood or platelets with UCI Health at the UCI Campus Blood Donor Center in Irvine. As the only Level 1 Trauma Center and Comprehensive Cancer Center in Orange County, UCI transfuses over 1000 units of blood and platelets to our patients each month. We couldn’t do it without people like you.
We have several appointment options, please read more about each one before choosing your appointment type.
- Blood Donation - You will donate approximately 1 pint of blood. The entire process takes about 45 minutes, but the actual donation part takes between 4-12 minutes. You can donate blood every 56 days. All blood types accepted.
- Platelet Donation - In order to donate platelets, you must have either previously donated platelets with UCI or have been prescreened for platelets at UCI. If not, read about the two options below (Blood donation + platelet prescreen or platelet prescreen to see what the next step is for you to donate platelets.
For platelet donations, you will donate both platelets & plasma while your red cells will be returned to you. The entire process takes about 2 ½ hours, the actual donation part takes between 1- 2 hours. You will have a needle in each arm, one drawing you blood where it is then separated by a machine. The plasma and platelets are collected, and your red cells are returned to you in the other arm. You can donate platelets every 7 days, with a maximum of 24 donations in a 12-month period. All blood types accepted for platelets except type O negative.
- Blood Donation + Platelet Prescreen - This donation is for people who have never donated blood with UCI previously and are interested in finding out if they qualify to donate platelets. Along with donating blood, a small sample of blood will be analyzed which will tell us if your platelet count is high enough. You will know prior to leaving if you are a good candidate for platelet donation. For females who have had a pregnancy, an additional test will be done for HLA. Results will be back within 3 days.
- Platelet Prescreen - If you have previously donated blood with UCI, you can set up an appointment to be prescreened for platelets. This appointment will take approximately 15-20 minutes. You will know prior to leaving if you are a good candidate for platelet donation. For females who have had a pregnancy, an additional test will be done for HLA. Results will be back within 3 days.