This review goes out to all the first timers out there ! It took me 27 years but I finally donated…read moresome of that Megan juice aka blood . I myself had no idea where to start or how to go about donating , so I hope this review will be seen and help some of you . First things first . Make an account online through the blood center of Wisconsin . You'll see a line for a Donor ID # but don't worry you don't need it . They'll give you that information after you donate . Once you've made an account click the tab that says schedule appointment . Next click whole blood donation and then in the notes mention it's your first time . Upon your appointment you'll walk in ,sign in and someone will grab you . They take you to a private room to do some paperwork and run some tests ( blood pressure , temperature , etc). Then they will take you out to the main floor for the donating . They have comfy chairs for you to sit in and have two large tvs for you to watch . The actual donating of the blood takes like 10/20 minutes. It's fast and doesn't hurt at all . The people stay with you the whole time and make sure your feeling okay . After your done they have you go to a side area ( cafe type ) where you refill your sugar with snacks ( chips , coda and fresh cookies ). Before you continue onto my next part of the review I want you to read it all the way till the end . It's not meant to scare you but inform you! After I was done donating I was about to get up to go to the cafe room when I started to feel dizzy, broke out in bad sweats and started shaking . The feeling increased and I just about passed out . The staff all around me was super quick to come and make me feel better . They laid me all the way down , put cold fabric on me , fanned me and asked me questions to see how to make me feel better . It started to pass after five minutes and they gave me a coke . They had me lay for another ten min and I was practically back to perfect ! They said it happens sometimes and this is where I remind you to not make the same mistake as I did . Eat a meal CLOSE to when your donating or a snack . I had eaten breakfast at around 10:15 and donated at about 1:20. To big of a gap I think or maybe that's just my body's reaction lol just remember to eat and drink water close to your blood donating time . After my "incident " I went over to the cafe , filled up on some sugar and I was out the door .( I had my boyfriend drive since he donated with zero reaction . They suggest not driving if you feel any symptoms after which happens but is rare ). My whole experience from start to end was fantastic . It was very professional and everyone was super nice . Everyone is super educated and during my symptoms of passing out they stayed calm and knew exactly what to do . My boyfriend was in the cafe and didn't even realize something was wrong until someone came and told him lol and I want to emphasize again not everyone has a reaction to donating ... sometimes people just have them and sometimes they won't react again for another couple years . It's just something that can happen but more than not it never does. They take walk-ins and appointments for donations . They test your blood for tons of things and if something is wrong they will mail you what it is and who to see about it . You can also check things through your online account like previous visits , blood type etc. Can't wait to help out others and donate again !

Everyone should donate blood, but almost nobody does…read more Why? Are you that selfish? Are you that busy? Or are you, like everyone else, afraid of needles? The Blood Center of Wisconsin is a great resource for humanity. You don't know how many people need blood every day until yourself or someone you know is sick and needs it. It can't be made artificially or gotten from animals. The only source is you. You need to donate blood and the Blood Center of Wisconsin is one of the best places ever to donate. There are places in town that will pay you for plasma but none of these places use the plasma collected for medical purposes. I believe to do so would be in violation of some well-meaning but asinine law. At any case, it isn't done. You know what else these shady establishments won't do? Give you a DVD player and a selection of movies. Give you State Fair tickets. Give you Brewers tickets. Give you cream puffs and snacks and juices and coffee and pop. They won't sign you up for a rewards program and shower you with free gifts after a certain number of donations. They won't give you heated blankets or comfy pillows or headphones or anything else you need to be comfortable. The Blood Center gives you ALL of these things and way more. Yes, it hurts for a minute. If you donate a unit of whole blood you'll be out of there lickity-split. You can also choose to donate higher-need items like platelets or plasma or granulocytes or other things, but this is always your choice. I understand completely if you're terrified to go and just can't do it. Some people can't. My girlfriend, for instance. But if you can, you should. And if you do, go to the Blood Center. It'll be painless. (almost)

2 weeks in a row opening an hour late. This is unacceptable…read morefor us as donors ,we get paid for our time not our plasma so us that get here at opening have to wait in the cold with no increase on payment for our time!!!

Friendly and efficient staff! Clean facility, and staff. They work hard to keep the wait times…read moredown. Can be short staffed at times, and Kim left tape on my arm once after being disconnected. Other than that, great center. Much better than their competitors in the area

After multiple poor experiences here I had to look for an alternate donation center. This was…read moreafter 30 years and 10+ gallons of donating. Unfriendly and extremely unprofessional staff. A lot of standing around, goofing off and hysterical laughing. Little interaction or pleasantries with donors. Very robotic to the point of it feeling rude and unappreciative. Lots of people standing around yet everything seemed rather disorganized and chaotic. Slow and inefficient donor experience. Not unusual for there to be "computer problems." Started donating at the American Red Cross and found the polar opposite. Very positive, efficient, friendly and appreciative experience by a very professional staff.

I have visited Versiti in Waukesha to donate blood multiple times. They are efficient and clean…read more They make sure you are comfortable and answer any questions you might have. I've never had to wait when I've had an appointment. Some staff are better than others at placing the needle, though I've never had anyone not be able to do. Some just seem to have a gift for making it almost painless. They always a nice selection of food and drink for after your appointment too.

If I could give this place 1/2 star or zero, I would. I was a regular donor at this location for…read moremonths, and I only ever knew of one tech that could hit my vein-- Amanda. Once she left, everyone else would strike through and have to send me home to come back another time. Not to mention the employees act extremely unprofessional for "medical professionals", yeah right. Then my horror story happened... Sometime in December 2018, I went to donate at Talecris. I told my phlebotomist (a young, heavy-set African American woman) that my only good vein was in my right arm. She immediately missed and caused the vein to blow. She called over a man to help. The man with a red beard (very rude, I can't remember his name either unfortunately), wrapped my arm in an ice pack and asked to try my left arm. I said that there wasn't a good vein there. He said "Well we'll just have to explore a bit. It's in there somewhere!" And he began to palpate my vein. Then he poked. The needle (which is quite large) was completely inside my arm. My vein that he aimed for was fairly superficial-- what was he trying to do!? I began crying and tried to stay calm even though it was uncomfortable. He called a third woman over to give it a go. She advanced the needle even further and hit a nerve. My arm twitched, and blood began pooling out onto my arm and down onto the floor. The nurse was called over and yelled "GAUZE! WE NEED GAUZE NOW!". I was panicking. The nurse pulled out my container of whole blood that I had pumped, swirled it around, and said, "that's a lot of blood, do you mind if we try a third time to give you your blood back?" I declined because I just wanted to cut my losses and leave. The nurse whispered over to the phlebotomist that "you need to clean up this blood because this does not look good." After they cleaned up all of my blood and wrapped my second arm in an ice pack, they apologized, paid me $20, and gave me a $45 credit for the next time I came. I DID NOT RETURN AND I DO NOT PLAN ON RETURNING. Some advice to those of you planning on donating: if you don't mind strangers being trained off the street poking at your arm like you're a lab rat, go ahead and try this place out. Unless you only have surface veins that a five year old could hit, because if you have any other veins you'll be sorry.

There is a short fella with reddish hair and a beard that works at the counter. He has the…read morepersonality of a wet mop and the courtesy of a rude jerk. He treats people like their dregs of society and he lacks the common courtesy of kindness and respect. The center is presently collecting nonperishable food items for the food pantry. I arrived to donate plasma and went to the kiosk and answered all of the required questions. I realized I forgot my canned goods so I went out to my car; I returned to the center 20 seconds later. Upon my re-entry he abruptly raised his voice at me and told me that because I exited the center I could not donate today. This was the third incidence of him displaying unwarranted attitude toward me. Maybe they should put up a sign that states once you complete the kiosk questions you can not leave the building. I won't be returning and It's too bad because plasma saves lives.

Each time you donate saves 3 lives! That is a great reason to get out alone…read more This place just got a facelift a couple of months ago - adding more rooms, a big screen TV, and making it overall a little less sterile of an environment and more inviting. This is my main BloodCenter I go to since it is close to work yet it is nothing compared to the headquarters off of Wisconsin. The staff is always really friendly no matter the day, make you laugh, and make you comfortable with the whole process. I highly suggest giving it a try.

I've gone to the downtown location for the past few years, but this is my new donor center after…read morehaving recently moved. It's a fairly small operation, but they do a very good job with scheduling so it is not crowded, and I've almost always been taken care of immediately and quickly. The staff is very friendly and thankful toward its donors. I'm there as often as I can be, every 8 weeks.

I wanted to sincerely thank the entire morning crew staff. the professionalism they preform at is…read moretop notch. if something goes on with the machine or if you have any questions about safety and the process EVERYONE is there to help, not just one specific person and honestly its refreshing to be around thia staff. thank you.

Just want to thank Earl , he made me very comfortable when I first started months ago ! Very…read morepatient and fast poke I didn't feel it either time if he decides to stop coming or working here I won't be back AT ALL THANKS BUDDY

Every donation saves 3 lives! Please donate today! Very professional staff. I come every two monthsread more

As much as I hate coming to do this, I love coming here. Very attentive, gentle, & courteous. It…read moredoesn't take much, everyone should donate if they are able!! Thank You for your care & attention, see you again in a few months!

the people here are amazing and work together well. The…read morequestionnaire takes more time than the donation. Nice work all and at the end I love oreos.

Lake Bluff Lifesource, now known as Vitalant-Illinois, is an amazing place! I have been coming many…read moremany times over the last year and a half and I have been shown nothing but kindness and compassion. Every time I walk in the door I get greeted by name with a smiling face. It also helps that they are very skilled with the needles and I have never had a negative experience with the insertion or withdrawal. If you want to do an amazing thing by donating blood or what I recommend- PLATELETS :) this is the place to do it!