Providing plasma to fight COVID

While masks and social distancing are the two prime strategies any person can use to combat the spread of COVID-19, the very practice of them restricts people from doing what people do best— galvanizing others to do something positive and productive. One simple individual way to help health care workers combat any pandemic is to provide blood twice a week.

In Rapid City there are two organizations, Vitalant and CSL Plasma, where people can provide blood to make plasma. According to Vitalant, nearly forty percent of the US population is eligible to provide blood but only three percent do. The fundamental difference between Vitalant and CSL Plasma is Vitalant pays nothing for your donation of blood, whereas a person can earn up to $700 a month providing blood twice a week at CSL Plasma.

According to the science website Diffen, “Plasma is the yellow liquid component of blood and constitutes 55% of the total volume.” Diffen defines plasma as “ninety percent water, and contains proteins, nutrients, waste products, clotting factors, minerals, immunoglobulins, hormones and carbon dioxide.” Blood is made up of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Red blood cells are the principal means oxygen is delivered to body tissues. White blood cells are like the armed forces of your body. They fight infections and invaders, such as viruses. Platelets are involved in the clotting of blood, essential to keep the body from bleeding out from a wound.

Plasma was first proposed and developed in England a hundred years ago, during World War I, as a substitute for whole blood transfusions. Plasma is essential in protecting the body from infection and blood disorders.

Several steps are involved in the making of plasma. Plasma is separated from blood by a centrifuge. An anticoagulant is applied to fresh blood and then spun until the blood cells collect at the bottom. The plasma is then poured off.

Many Lakota people use CSL services as a source of income. At present, donors receive $65 for each visit, for the first five weeks, and can give blood twice a week. There are three pay scales, based upon body weight. After five visits at $65 a visit, the pay scale drops down to $21 for the lightest weight to $26 for the heaviest. If you continue to donate twice a week for 35 days, the pay scale increases to $35 a donation for the lightest weight to $47 for the highest weight.

The initial visit to CSL Plasma at 1555 Haines Avenue in Rapid City can be up to four hours. Future visits take about two hours. The standard operating hours are 10 am to 7 pm every day except Saturday, which is 7 am to 4 pm. Donors would do well to arrive early because the parking lot quickly fills up and the waiting line can get lengthy.

One initial visit, at 11 am on a Tuesday, went like this:

1. Five minutes at the front desk.
2. Fifteen minutes to watch two videos and read the consent form of about four pages.
3. Fifteen minutes waiting to be called back to set up an account.
4. Ten minutes to set up the account, personal information, take picture, etc. Make sure to bring your social security card, a photo ID, and mail with your current mailing address no more than two months old. You are given a debit card, and after giving blood, $65 is immediately credited to the card. The card must be activated by the code provided. While using the card, when asked if it is a debit or credit card, choose credit to avoid complications.
5. Fifteen minutes at the kiosk, where a screen asks you about 64 questions. After the kiosk is a waiting line of about sixty feet. If you are at the front of a line, little waiting time at all, if at the back, about fifteen minutes.
6. Five minutes at one of five intake stations, where you are then taken back to see a physician for a physical.
7. Fifteen minutes waiting for the physical.
8. Ten minutes for the physical.
9. About an hour to have your blood drawn three times, plasma separated from the blood, and the cells returned to your body. During this time, you are given a cushioned platform to relax on, and can use your cell phone to text or watch videos, etc., but you cannot make a phone call or receive a phone call. On this visit, complications resulted because the donor did not hydrate properly, or eat breakfast before the procedure, despite clear pre-visit instructions to do so. The donor became pale and nauseated, and sweated profusely. Staff reacted promptly and the complications were corrected in about five minutes.

A CSL app allows donors to fill out a few basic questions and skip the 64-question kiosk stop. As with any lengthy, heavily regulated procedure, the first visit can be exhausting physically and emotionally, but the second visit only involves half of the procedural steps, and the donor knows what to expect and there is far less stress.

One young donor, who is a nursing student at Black Hills State, thought she might need a part time job, but since she had recently recovered from COVID, she stood to gain bonus pay of $100 for her antibodies, in addition to the standard $65 per visit. Not only did giving blood supply her with the additional holiday income she needed, it kept her schedule free to either devote to school, or a part time job. If a four hour long, twice a week donation schedule doesn’t conflict with a person’s regular schedule, providing blood at CSL Plasma is a good way to make ends meet in COVID stressed times, and help heath care professionals battle the pandemic. It is estimated that each visit can produce plasma to help up to four COVID patients.

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com)

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