The Donor Selection Criteria slide is a bold step in helping professionals understand the various stages of strict scrutiny an individual needs to be subjected to in order to regarded a qualified donor for donate blood. In this presentation, we will also spend some time going through the various World Health Organization(WHO) donor selection criteria and finally there are links for additional resources you can click to visit.

1. DONOR SELECTION
Presentation By
GAMOR KWAME DICKSON
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2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION
i. Introduction
ii. Types of blood donors
iii. Steps in selection of blood donors
iv. Purpose of donor selection
v. Donor informed consent
vi. WHO Criteria for donor selection
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3. INTRODUCTION
• The primary responsibility of a blood transfusion service is to provide a
safe, sufficient and timely supply of blood and blood products.
• It should build and maintain a pool of safe, voluntary non-remunerated
blood donors and take all necessary steps to ensure that the products
derived from donated blood are efficacious for the recipient, with a
minimal risk of any infection that could be transmitted through transfusion.
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4. TYPES OF BLOOD DONORS
• Voluntary blood donors
• Family replacement blood donors
• Paid blood donors
• Autologous donors
• Apheresis donors
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5. STEPS IN SELECTION OF BLOOD DONORS
• Donor registration
• Medical history
• Physical examination
• Laboratory testing
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6. • Donor registration
The following information must be carefully recorded to enable the
Transfusion centre to contact the donor, if required, at a later date.
i. Donation date and time
ii. Name of the donor
iii. Age
iv. Gender
v. Occupation
vi. Address and contact
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7. • Medical history
Certain aspects in the history may make a donor unfit for donation
temporarily or permanently.
Causes of permanent deferral of donors
i. HIV antibody positive
ii. Cardiovascular disease/heart disorders: myocardial infarction, angina
iii. Patients who have undergone open heart surgery
iv. Malignant diseases
v. Abnormal bleeding tendency
vi. ETC
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8. Causes of temporal deferral of donors
Conditions Period of deferral
Major surgery 1 year
Minor surgery 6months
Dental surgery 1 month
Transfusion with components 1 year
Malaria 3 months
Pregnancy 6months
Lactation Till the baby is weaned
etc 8

9. • Physical examination
After the history all donors must be examined carefully to ensure their physical
fitness. The following criteria must be met:
i. Age 18-65 years
ii. Weight- more than 60kg to donate 450ml blood.
iii. Blood pressure must be normal .(100/80 – 140/89 mmHg)
iv. Pulse: between 80-100/min, regular.
v. Venipuncture site must be free of any lesion.
vi. Systemic examination: Heart, Lungs: normal.
vii. Per abdomen: no organomegaly detected.
viii.Interval between donation must be 14 weeks. 9

10. • Laboratory testing
Certain laboratory tests are performed on donors prior to collection of
blood.
i. Hemoglobin : To be fit for donation the Hb must be greater than
12.5g/dl.
ii. ABO and Rh grouping must be done on all donors.
iii. Transfusion transmitted infections
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11. PURPOSE OF DONOR CARE AND SELECTION
• Protect donor health and safety by collecting blood only from
health individuals.
• Ensure patient safety by collecting blood only from donors whose
donations, when transfused, will be safe for the recipients.
• Identify any factors that might make an individual unsuitable as a
donor, either temporarily or permanently.
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12. • Reduce the unnecessary deferral of safe and healthy donors.
• Ensure the quality of blood products derived from whole blood
and apheresis donations.
• Minimize the wastage of resources resulting from the collection
of unsuitable donations.
NOTE: All prospective blood donors should therefore be assessed for their
suitability to donate blood, on each occasion of donation.
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13. DONOR INFORMED CONSENT
• For consent to a procedure to be legally valid
the donor must as a matter of good principle
have been told the nature and purpose of the
procedure as well as being warned of any
substantial or unusual adverse event risk.
• Informed consent must be obtained by a
trained person, fully conversant with the
procedure.
• A consent form must be signed by each donor
before donation.
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Source: Personal Gallery

14. WHO CRITERIA FOR DONOR SELECTION
Only individuals in good health should be accepted as blood donors.
1. AGE
• The usual lower age limit for blood donation is 18 years.
• The usual upper age limit for blood donation is 65 years.
2. DONOR APPEARANCE AND INSPECTION
• Prospective donors should be accepted only if they appear to be in good health
and comply with donor selection criteria
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15. 3. MINOR ILLNESSES
• Defer individuals with a history of recent infection: defer for 14 days
following full recovery and cessation of any therapy, including
antibiotics
4. WEIGHT
• Prospective donors of whole blood donations should weigh at least
50 kg to donate 350 ml and more than 50 kg to donate 450 ml
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16. 5. VITAL SIGNS
• Pulse: A normal pulse rate of 60–100 per minute and a regular rhythm
are indicators of good health.
• Blood pressure (BP) : A normal blood pressure (systolic 120–129 mmHg,
diastolic 80–89 mmHg) is generally regarded as an indicator of good
health
NB: If blood pressure is used as a selection criterion for blood donation,
arbitrary acceptable limits of systolic BP of 100–140 mmHg and arbitrary
acceptable limits of diastolic BP of 60–90 mmHg are suggested
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17. 6. DONOR IRON STATUS
Haemoglobin Screening
• A haemoglobin level of not less than 12.0 g/dl for females and not less than
13.0 g/dl for males as the threshold.
7. FREQUENCY OF DONATION
• The minimum interval between donations of whole blood should be 12 weeks
for males and 16 weeks for females.
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18. 8. FLUID INTAKE AND FOOD
•The BTS should consider providing 500 ml drinking water to donors
before donation to minimize the risk of vasovagal reactions.
9. GENDER
Females should be defer during the following:
• Pregnancy, Lactation and Menstruation
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19. REFERENCES
• Joint UKBTS Professional Advisory Committee’s (JPAC) Donor
Selection Guidelines. Available at
www.transfusionguidelines.org
• Oswald, I. (1964). GUIDELINES ON ASSESSING DONOR SUITABILITY FOR
BLOOD DONATION. Bmj, 1(5396), 1497–1497.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.5396.1497-b
• Services, T., & Advisory, P. (2020). Chapter 3: Care and selection of
whole blood and component donors (including donors of pre-
deposit autologous blood) 3.1: 1–15.
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20. THANK YOU
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