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)