The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas

It has been my pleasure to have donated whole blood, and after three more donations I hit the big twenty gallon mark. Each and every donation was done here in town.
My sense of donating blood is more of a community concept-​we each have to experience some level of sacrifice for those who need our help.
Not all my donations were completely painless; but I tried not to grimace as I took the path of valor, and valor suggests bravery and commitment in the face of war or imminent danger. We are at war, at war with blood diseases and are lined up to come to the aid of those who aren’t going to survive surgery without this humble supply.
I have always been treated with respect. Were the staff into administering pain, they’d all become dentists and make a living.

Great experience, and a good cause.

The good: They took my blood! And I loved the guy who did it. I promise to request him in the future. Having never donated blood, he knew it. He told funny jokes, kept my mind busy, didn’t stab me too much and made the process as (almost) painless as it could be.
The bad: My friend arrived to donate as well, and they denied him because of an out of state tattoo. I get the reasoning behind the madness, but they missed out on some seriously good blood.
The ugly: Not too much ugly here. They don’t care what you look like, as long as you have healthy blood. Be prepared for an archaic computer interview and bring your state issued photo ID. They aren’t going to take your school ID. If you have an ugly license photo, you are good to go.
Super easy to do and I’ll be back in June, got my sticker on my calendar already!

I gave blood for the first time today and having never gone before, I don’t have much to compare it to. But with that said, the entire process was easy and went much smoother than I think I psyched myself up for. I made my appointment online, showed up, and they quickly had me registered and set up. They explained the process to me and everyone was super nice. After completing some questions both in person and by clicking through questions on a computer, I was ready to donate! While I am not a fan of needles (and can not stand to watch blood come out of me) the staff were great about making it as painless as possible. You can listen to your Ipod if you want, or they have TV’s set up to view also. Once the needle is in they tilt you back in these comfy chairs with your feet up and you squeeze a ball about every ten seconds. I was only «giving the blood» for probably five mins and then I was done. There have a little area to «recoup» with snacks, drinks and fresh cupcakes. Had I know it was this easy I would have done this a long time ago. With that said I will gladly give blood when I can and will go back to this location!

TL;DR — Unskilled, unconcerned phlebotomists who really couldn’t care less if you’re in so much pain you’re crying. Go somewhere else to donate.
I just got back home from having my arm butchered here. Full disclosure, I have tiny, rolling veins. It has always been difficult for me to donate blood because unless I have an expert level phlebotomist it is always torture. Therefore, upon entering the South Austin location of the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas I told every single person I talked to, «I have tiny, rolling veins. » I have had good experiences with their mobile buses at work, so I wasn’t terribly worried. Boy was that faith misplaced! I was helped by four separate people. The first lady was named Anita and she got me set up on the computer system to sign in. When I was done registering on the computer, another woman who I think was named Jessica took my vitals. Then, Jessica took me out to the donation area, and handed me off to another woman named Crystal. I told each and every one of these women, «I have tiny, rolling veins so donating is hard.» And they all just smiled placidly and said, «Ok.» Clearly they were not concerned, so I wasn’t all that concerned. .. until Crystal started poking at my right arm dubiously, then the left, then back to the right before she decided to use the right arm. She disinfected the area and then literally jabbed me with the needle and started DIGGING AROUND FOR A VEIN. «Ow! That really hurts! Please stop!» I said. She looked at me blankly, still unconcerned. «Do you want me to get someone else to try?» I replied with an enthusiastic yes, so she got a fourth woman whose name I didn’t catch. She came over and told me, «Let me know if anything I do hurts and I’ll stop.» Then she started moving the needle. At first it didn’t hurt, but then it REALLY did and I told her so. She looked at me, completely unconcerned, «But it’s going now. The blood is going.» She walked away, leaving the needle in the painful position. I tried to tough it out for about five seconds but it hurt so much that by this point I was literally crying. Crystal looked at me placidly, still *completely* unconcerned and asked, «Do you want me to take it out?» Again, I replied with an enthusiastic yes. She took her sweet time taking the needle out while my arm throbbed and I sat there crying in the middle of everything. Finally she got it all removed and asked if I wanted an ice pack, still showing a remarkable lack of empathy for her crying patient. I said yes, she got me the ice pack and then told me to sit in the cantina. I sat there, still crying, but I was so angry and embarrassed that I just left after two minutes. It didn’t help that I saw Crystal and the fourth woman processing what I had been able to donate, smiling at each other and rolling their eyes.
So, yeah, I am certainly never coming back here again. I can honestly say that this is the worst blood donor experience I’ve ever had and I would never recommend anyone donate here. Maybe if you have veins that are like I-​35 in that they are huge and always full to bursting you won’t have a problem, but if you’re more like me and have veins that are like an FM road through the hill country in that they are narrow, winding, and rolling then go elsewhere. Guess the people of West, TX will have to do with one less unit of O– blood, which totally sucks.

This is a great location. Convenient and never a wait. Seem to always get Heather and she is good at what she does and is really nice. All the staff are great. Love this location.

I do it for the cookies.
There, I said it. And for the possibility of a free shirt. Or maybe a coffee mug.
Once you get past the pin prick and the needle-​sticking, you get to sit on nice, comfy chairs with your feet up, watching a flat-​screen TV, all while saving a few people’s lives.
The needle-​pokers have always been very nice and sweet and even though my veins seemed to disappear last time, they made sure I was doing alright.
As long as my iron stays up, I’ll for sure be going back.
I’m working toward that sweatshirt.