Students earn cash donating plasma

When freshman Brad Stroot went to donate plasma for the first time, the scene looked a little weird.

“It was a room full of people sitting at chairs with small bags full of blood,” he said. “It was really bizarre.”

Despite his initial hesitance, Stroot is one of the many students who donate plasma as a way to earn extra money.

Biolife Plasma Services, which operates a donation center in Bloomington, pays healthy adults for their plasma.

While many students and Bloomington residents donate throughout the year, Eric Petty, regional director for Biolife, said donations increase during the holiday season.

“We see an increase around November and December. This is also due to the increased need of plasma,” Petty said, citing an increase in accidents.

Plasma makes up 57 percent of human blood and blood from clots after a cut or injury. Plasma donated at Biolife is used to make medicine to help burn victims, hemophiliacs and people with primary immune deficiency syndrome. Some of the plasma is also used for researching new drugs and treatments.

Petty said that because plasma cannot be made synthetically, there is always a shortage. For their time and plasma, Biolife compensates donors.

“If people are willing to donate to us, we are willing to give back,” Petty said.

Donors are allowed to give plasma twice a week and are paid $20 for the first donation and $40 for the second. Biolife also offers more money during times when plasma donations are low.

Stroot began going to Biolife at the beginning of the school year. Twice a week he donates 880 milliliters of his plasma.

While most people should wait 56 days between each blood donation, a person can donate plasma more frequently. Dr. Dan Waxman of the Indiana Blood Center said this is because a plasma donor does not lose red blood cells.

“Plasma is replenished readily,” Waxman said. “Someone in good health can donate up to twice a week.”

The donation process usually takes an hour. Blood is put though a machine that separates the blood and the plasma. Once the plasma is taken out of the blood, it is replaced with saline and cycled back into the body.

Other than the initial puncture of the skin, Stroot said it is usually not a painful process.

“The first time I went, they missed the vein and hit a nerve,” he said. “It was the worst pain I had ever felt, but after that it was OK.”

There are few side effects to donating plasma. Other than bruising and light-headedness, the process is low risk with minimal side effects. Participants must pass a medical examination prior to donation and sterile equipment is used throughout the procedure.

Now that his bi-weekly trips to Biolife have become routine, Stroot has been able to cut down the time it takes to donate to about a half hour by drinking a few glasses of water beforehand. Donors are told to keep well hydrated before and after donating.

Sophomore Shea Combs began donating because she needed extra cash.

“Basically I was broke,” she said. “And you make $30 an hour.”

One other concern is the ethics of plasma donation. Some people wonder if selling plasma is ethical because people are being paid for their body fluids.

“Plasma donors are paid because the plasma eventually becomes prescription drugs,” Waxman said. “It is not really unethical.”

Stroot said he did not believe it was wrong to get paid for giving plasma as long as there was a need for it. But he said he does not plan to continue donating in the long term.

“Honestly,” he said, “I just do it to get by right now.”