1. The patient’s surgeon must complete a LifeSource order form for directed donations. It must include the patient’s name,  type and amount of blood product(s) needed, date required and hospital where the blood product(s) should be sent.
   
   
2. Call the LifeSource Special Donations office to schedule your Directed Donation Program at (847) 299-7386. 
   
   
3. Begin to recruit family members and friends for the required number of blood products that you’ll need.  It is important to recruit extra donors since some of the donors that you select may not have a compatible blood type or may be ineligible to donate.
   
   

4. After recruiting your donors, have them call the Special Donations office to schedule their appointments.  When they call, they’ll need the name of the patient, the patient’s date of birth, and the patient’s address.

OUR ROLE AND YOUR ROLE IN THE DIRECTED DONATION PROCESS:

LifeSource is the bridge between donors giving on your behalf and the hospital where your transfusion will occur.  If your physician recommends and/or you prefer to receive directed donations, LifeSource makes every effort to collect, test, process and distribute the blood units to your hospital for surgery.  As the patient recipient, it is your responsibility, or you may select a contact person, to set up directed donation appointments and ensure that these recruited donors actually keep their appointments.  LifeSource schedulers cannot call directed donors to make sure that they come in to donate.

DONOR GUIDELINES

All directed donors must meet the same strict guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration for safety, as do donations from the general blood supply.  Any directed donation that does not meet the safety guidelines for viral transmission will be destroyed and cannot be used for patient care.  Directed donors must also meet the same criteria as general blood donors regarding prior health history and high-risk activities.  Directed donors will be deferred from giving based upon the standard guidelines for blood donation.

If directed donations meet all the safety requirements and for some reason, such as a change in the date for surgery, cannot be used for the intended patients, those units of blood may be used in the community blood supply.  This is done so no viable donation is wasted.

LifeSource’s SPECIAL DONATIONS OFFICE

Special donations coordinators are available to answer questions and make appointments for directed donations.  The telephone number is   (847) 299-7386.  Directed donations are made by appointment only and can be donated at any of our community donor centers.