Plasma - NHS Blood Donation

Plasma is the largest single component of blood, and makes up about 55% of total blood volume. It is a clear, straw-coloured liquid, which carries platelets ... NHSBTusescookieswhichareessentialforthesitetowork.Wealsousenon-essentialcookiestohelpusimproveourservices,anydatacollectedisanonymised.Bycontinuingtousethiswebsiteyouagreetoouruseofcookies.Readmoreaboutourcookies OK Hithere,weseeyou'reusingOS,whynottryourapp? Download Skiptomaincontent Auxiliarynav Whoweare Whatwedo Howwehelp Howyoucanhelp Careers News Home Plasma TogglePlasmasection Plasma Aboutplasma Whocandonateplasma Wheretodonateplasma Howtodonateplasma Whygiveblood ToggleWhygivebloodsection Whygiveblood Demandfordifferentbloodtypes Bloodtypes Howbloodisused Whoyoucouldhelp Whocangiveblood ToggleWhocangivebloodsection Whocangiveblood CanIgiveblood? Gettinganappointment HealthandEligibility Travelconsiderations Occupationconsiderations Menwhohavesexwithmen Donorsanddisability Thedonationprocess ToggleThedonationprocesssection Thedonationprocess Givingbloodforthefirsttime Registeringonline Preparingtogiveblood Whathappensontheday Afteryourdonation Aboutourdonationvenues Furtherinformation Recognisingdonors Wheretodonate Newsandcampaigns ToggleNewsandcampaignssection Newsandcampaigns Coronavirus Newsandstatements Campaigns TheDonor 1 Ourbloodcentresareopen andyoucandonatesafely. Readourlatestcoronavirusupdate Youarehere: Home Whygiveblood Howbloodisused Bloodcomponents Plasma Howplasmahelps Plasmaisthelargestsinglecomponentofblood,andmakesupabout55%oftotalbloodvolume.Itisaclear,straw-colouredliquid,whichcarriesplatelets,redandwhitebloodcells. Itcontainsover700proteinsandothersubstances.Onceseparatedfrombloodcells,plasmacanbemadeintomedicinesorusedintransfusions. Plasmafor medicines Plasma isused tomakemedicinescalledimmunoglobulins. Over17,000peopleinEnglandrelyon thesemedicines.Theyhaveweakenedimmunesystems,cancersandotherdiseases. Wecollectplasmatouseinmedicinesfromplasmadonorsandwholeblooddonors.  Plasmadonors Thesedonorshavetheirplasma separated fromtherestoftheirbloodwhiletheydonate usingaprocesscalledapheresis. Peoplefromallbloodgroupscandonateandwearelookingfornewdonors.  Findoutaboutbecomingaplasmadonor Wholeblooddonors Plasmaisseparatedandcollectedfromblooddonorsafterdonatingwholebloodtheusualway. ThiswayofcollectingplasmastartedinAugust2021. Intime,around1millionblooddonationsayearwillhavethisextra,lifesavinguse. Findoutmoreaboutplasmafromblooddonations  Plasma fortransfusions Therearetwowayswecollectplasmafortransfusions: byseparatingitoutfromblooddonations fromourmaleAandABtypeplateletdonors,whilethey’redonatingplatelets Thisplasmaisfrozentopreserveitsqualityandfunction.Thiscomponentisknownasfreshfrozenplasma,orFFP. Freshfrozenplasmafromfemaledonorsisnotcurrentlyusedbecauseitismorelikelytocontainantibodiesthatcouldcauseaseriousreactionwhengiventoapatient. Somepeopledonotdevelopantibodieswhileothersdo.Itisnotclearlyunderstoodwhythishappens,butantibodiesaremorelikelytodevelopafterpregnancy. Forthisreason,itissafestforpatientsifweonlyproducefreshfrozenplasmaproductsfrommaledonors. Howfreshfrozenplasmasaveslives Freshfrozenplasmacanbeissuedtohospitalsorfurtherprocessedintoamoreconcentratedcomponentthatisrichincertainclottingfactorscalledcryoprecipitate. Plasmatransfusionscanhelpthebloodtoclotandalsoreplacedangeroussubstancesinthepatient’sownplasma. Freshfrozenplasmaandcryoprecipitatecanbeusedtohelpmanytypesofpatients–forexamplepeoplewithmassivebloodloss,liverfailure,orrarediseases. KeriAnglin(pictured) received22unitsofblood,16unitsoffreshfrozenplasma,twounitsofcryoprecipitateandtwounitsofplatelets,afteramassivebleedwhilegivingbirth. Whatisplasmausedfor? Plasmacanbegivenasatransfusionormadeintomedicines.  Aboutplasmatreatments