The process is relatively painless. The worst is when you have someone brand new sticking the needle in your arm and even then it is only a slight stinging sensation that goes away pretty quickly after the initial puncture - some of the experienced individuals are so good you barely feel anything before the machine starts drawing blood.

The process is really simple and the whole thing takes me 1-1.5 hours MAX from start to finish. I show up for the time I choose (most are by appointment now (instead of just showing up to wait an hour because so many people did the same thing) and check-in at the front desk. If it isn't busy they have me do my 20 questions on the computer where it asks if I've started new meds, am living with anyone new, feeling healthy, haven't had a fever, etc. If it is busy it is usually only a couple minute wait. After the questions they call you to a booth where they prick your finger to check hematocrit and hydration, take your temp, and measure blood pressure.

After you get past that, you go through a door into their collection area where there are 30-60 "beds" where you lay down on one and once the next tech is ready they come over, set the machine up with various tubes (by this time you have probably been asked your name, DOB, and last four of your social 3 or 4 times and sometimes by the same person because of the rules in place to maintain health safety) and they get everything in place. They then ask if you're allergic to latex (sometimes shellfish and iodine depending on what they use to disinfect the arm and the other items they may be using) before they sanitize the puncture site. They then insert the needle in your arm and away you go! The machine will collect the blood it receives and separates the blood from the plasma with an apparatus built into the machine that uses centrifugal force and collects the plasma in a separate container. Once the device that holds the remaining blood is full the machine stops collecting the blood and instead reverses the flow to deliver the remaining blood product back into your body. This process will happen 8-10 times depending on how much you're donating and how hydrated you are - the more you weigh the more they collect from you.

Sometimes during the return period you may get a metallic taste and that is because of the anticoagulant they use so your blood doesnt clot and is completely safe and normal. But during this time they have movies playing on the TVs they have hanging from the ceiling (ferris bueller's day off, transformers, fast and the furious, twilight, hoodwinked, and die hard just to name some of the movies I can remember them playing) but they also allow you to bring your phone or anything else to use as a distraction from the process as long as it doesnt cause interruptions or disrupts the people around you.

All-in-all it is a relatively pain free process. Monday and wednesdays I leave work and go straight there since I'm already out. If each donation takes you 1.5 hours and you go 8 times a month and get the $400/month that is about $33/hr not taxed. The money is available 5-10 minutes at most after donating and they are constantly doing promotions where you donate x number of times per month and get entered into raffles to win gift cards, extra money, TVs, sound bars, bicycles, all kinds of prizes. So I get paid more an hour than my current job, get the chance to win prizes, I get to HELP SAVE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE UNABLE TO PRODUCE THEIR OWN ANTICOAGULANTS, all while doing what I would probably be doing at home to unwind after work.