Blood And Tissue Center Of Central Texas

Having never donated before and being somewhat apprehensive when it comes to needles, the staff was quick to make me feel comfortable and very friendly. I was able to donate on my lunch hour and the whole process was quick and relatively painless!

I’ve been here before and after the remodel and its alway gone great.
Now they have chairs facing some TV’s that you can watch during your donation. I’ve only had one incident where I almost fainted a couple times after donating but the staff were quick to take care of me and make sure I was 100% before they let me leave. I donate whenever I can as I am O-​negative, but they appreciate any and all blood types.
The wait time is very minimal, process is fast and efficient, and staff are always friendly and professional! Go save a life!

I hadn’t donated blood since I was in high school but when I heard that the blood supply levels were low in Austin and friend and I decided to go bleed for the common good. My blood type is the universal donor, O negative, so I’m ashamed that I haven’t gone more often.
This center is in a downtrodden strip mall between a dollar theater and a dollar general. I probably would’ve turned around and gone somewhere else but my friend drove and she’d gone there before so I was stuck (haha).
The office space was being renovated so a donation drive bus was parked out front. This made me a bit nervous but once inside I felt more at ease. There were only two seats to wait and register with the attendant. The good part is the place was really full. I would say there were six people in line getting ready for some bloodletting.
The registration was easy and now I have an account that can be used at any blood center of central texas. Every time you donate you get some points added to your account that you can redeem for little prizes like t shirts and coffee mugs. I think that’s a really smart way to motivate donors to come in more often.
Before getting down to the business I was shown into one of two tiny cupboard sized offices where I was asked many disturbing questions ranging from the expected ones about drug use and sex partners to a panoply of diseases I’ve never heard of. Thankfully my only «yes» was whether or not I’ve had pneumonia.
After the awkward question time the nurse performed a small pin prick test for my iron levels and a quick check for my vitals. I was asked if I preferred a right or left arm and was seated in a built in lounge chair.
A nice young guy painted iodine all over my inner arm, handed me a squishy ball, then stuck a needle in my arm. I watched my blood run through the tubing to a little bag resting on a scale. While I filled the bag he tapped into the line and filled a few vials for various testing. I was told I was a fast bleeder. I took this as a compliment.
Once the bag in the scale reached the right weight (after maybe 8 minutes) a little alarm went off and I was done. I held my arm over my head for a minute while they wrapped a little bandage around it then I was directed to another little seating area at the front of the bus where there was a small snack bar. I took an orange gatorade and a package of nutter butters then went on my way.
All in all it was relatively painless and provided plenty of smug factor! Oh and that helping other people thing. Hooray!