Candidates for this type of tranfusions must meet the following criteria:
Be blood type A (positive or negative) or O
Donor has not made any blood and/or platelet donations for the past 56 days
No history of hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcers, severe allergies, migraine headaches
Must be CMV-negative (this is a factor usually identified for registered blood donors, if this is unknown, the blood bank would test for this)
Prior to collection, a donor must take a total of 60 mg. of prednisone (steroid) over an 18-hour period (thus the exclusions detailed above)
WBC collection takes about 3 hours

Potential donors that meet this criteria and would be willing to make a WBC donation should call the Robert Wood Johnson Blood Bank at 732-235-8100, ext. 244 to for an initial phone interview. The people who would be likely candidates will be scheduled to come in to give a blood sample for testing. Appointments for blood samples will be scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, between 8AM and 1PM, or Monday between 8AM and 7PM. Results from the sample take 48 - 72 hours, then once a match is identified, the appointment is made for the collection to occur, and tranfusion occurs within an 8-hour timeframe. Time is critical, as it is imperative that we collect from several donors to ensure several consecutive tranfusions for this to be effective.