United Blood Services

Came here to donate blood. Did a walk-​in because I didn’t know I can make an appt or that others make appts ahead. I wanna give the restroom 4 stars. Building is easily visible from the main street. Parking is accessible. Staff is so helpful. They took some time explaining the process and double checking identification markers. They weren’t rushing just so they can go home. I was out of there in an hour and 20 minutes.

*sighs* bad poke. This is the first. I am sure it’s an isolated incident. Have been donating blood for 5 years and this is the first

Everyone seemed friendly. Husband had no appointment and they said at least 1.5 hours. The only issue I had was its 61 out side but they has it freezing inside. I had to go wait in the car with the heater on so I could warm back up.

I’ve donated since college when I started organizing blood drives at our school. I try to donate during holidays since it seems that’s when more activity happen with tourists in town or DUI accidents. It’s a great way to give back and get some neat freebies, movie and Penn & Teller tickets, Amazon gift cards, blood donation promotional and «hero in you» t-​shirts. :)
The West Charleston site is the UBS I’ve donated to for many years. Location is within 15 minutes from home and has great parking. I am thrilled they now have a questionnaire they email me the day of my donation so I can jam through it while having my morning cup of joe.
I love Mimi when I donate platelets. The other phlebotomists not so much. Last Sunday went and had an unsuccessful donation and a bruise for four days from my stick. I will only donate from this point forward when she’s working. She knows me by name, happy, bright, sunny disposition, always has a loving presence and checks up on me throughout my 1−½ hour donation process. Afterwards there are always lots of different juices in the frig, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, nuts and wheat thins. I actually raid the canteen area BEFORE my donation when I have to sit get my vitals done (BP, temp, pulse, iron). Due to being a pescetarian, my iron usually teeters on the 12.5 mark.

I’m a regular donor here. Great services, and I love the Netflix here. Some of the phlebotomist remember my name. I can’t complain about anything here.
I’ve developed a strange habit of watching scary movies while donating.

It does seem to take a look a long time to donate blood, which might be a deterrent for many people. Most of the time is spent waiting and answering the questionnaire, but it still feels good to give and the staff is always very nice

After reading about the Unilocal event to donate blood and reap a nice benefit of 2 for 1 All Day Ride passes to Adventuredome, I finally made an appointment for today and headed down there. I hadn’t donated blood since high school and had been meaning to for a while anyway.
I made my appointment online and was able to get a fast pass barcode by filling out all necessary paperwork in advance. I thought I would be a shoe-​in since none of the red flags came up in my questionnaire (no homosexual contact, no sleeping around, no transfusions, no drugs or needles, no traveling internationally other than locally, not sick, and no major health issues). I walked in and was promptly greeted by the receptionist. I signed in and noticed a lounge area where I parked my kids and several recliners with personal televisions. There was a separate lounge area as well with cookies, juice, and water.
I was called to the back room by a very friendly woman who has been doing this for 8 years. She was cordial and professional and asked me some basic questions and took my blood pressure. Unbeknownst to me, my blood pressure was quite high and I did not pass the initial assessment because of it. Despite this, I was able to make a follow up appointment instead for next Sunday (despite what Unilocal says, the Charleston office is actually open on Sundays). I was also still given the free giveaways of 2 for 1 pass to Adventuredome as well as a free 1 topping large pizza from Papa Murphys. My kids were offered cookies and juice by the very friendly receptionist and we left afterwards.
All in all, I was extremely impressed with the cleanliness, staff, and professional nature of the place. I strongly recommend it to all.

Taking two hours past the appointment time is just way too long. Staff is friendly but that wait time sucks.

I have been donating whole blood since 2007, over time there had been occasional problems, such as couple of tries to get the needle into the vein properly, and maybe 15 to 20 minutes wait even with an appointment. However, since the beginning of 2015, twice I had to wait over an hour with an appointment; one time it took 4 different staff to get the needle in correctly; the last time I was able to donate, the staff keep moving the needle around because the blood will stop, and it ended up the bag was only 95% full, I found out later it was deemed incomplete and of course trashed, which is the second time that happened to me; the following visit, I was told the hemoglobin was too low, I should go to the doctor, I called my doctor and was told that number was in the normal range; the following week, someone called from United Blood Bank and asked me to donate again, with an appointment, I waited well over an hour, then was told that my blood pressure was too low, I have Raynauds disease, which means when exposing to the cold my limbs will go numb and turn pale or blue, I understand the blood bank has to keep a very low temperature, but after sitting there not moving for more than an hour, with naturally lower blood pressure than most average person, needless to say I could not give blood again. I don’t know if the staff are well compensated or not, even though they say thank you, they are not sincere at all and the attitude came across it is just a job, and they really don’t care, the worse part is their job is sticking needles into people all day long, and yet they don’t always seem to have the right skills, or again they just don’t care.

«Well, I met you at the blood bank
«We were looking at the bags
«Wondering if any of the colours
«Matched any of the names we knew on the tags»
«You said, see look that’s yours
«Stacked on top with your brother’s
«See how they resemble one another
«Even in their plastic little covers»
«And I said, I know it well
«That secret that you knew, but don’t know how to tell
«It fucks with your honour, and it teases your head
«But you know that it’s good girl
«‘Cause its running you with red»
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­ — — — — — — — –
And I, know it well.
And I, know it well.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­ — — — — — — — –
Brothers, I donate a respectable amount of blood. And, a lot of times as well. A decent amount of blood and as frequent as permitted by the system. Even when the system is incorrectly deferring my donation to a later date (due to a bad pull by a phlebotomist), I go out of my way to get it manually corrected so I can donate earlier. Pro Tip: One must call (800) 318‑6039.
In any case, they should have a better system for phone banking once they think they have an arm that is ready to give blood.
Sample:
Call #1: Thursday.
My thoughts: Oh, this is nice.
My response: I am working at a music festival in California and I will schedule an appointment myself online when I get back.
Call #2: Friday.
My thoughts: Goddammit, I just explained this yesterday.
My response: I am working at a music festival in California and I really am not allowed to be on the phone. I thought this could have been an emergency. When I get back I will take care of it.
Call #3: Unknown
My thoughts: Let me call myself to see if Anthrax (the vaccine, not virus itself) will disqualify me.
Their response: Not Anthrax, but the other stuff yes. Thirty days.
Call #4: Thursday, 8 p.m.
My thoughts: What the hell!
My response: I am at a play and just stepped out to answer. I have been deferred for thirty days due to anthrax (error on my part due to haste in explaining). I will schedule an appointment for June …
I have seen less desperate vampires on HBO’s True Blood­®.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –­­­­­ — — — — — — — –
Then, there is the receptionist. The receptionist is the rudest person I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with at any non-​profit anywhere. She is rude on the telephone (when one calls in); she is rude in person when one is ready to give what they are incessantly asking for. She is just rude.
There are two employees here who are five-​star all day. Unfortunately, the horrendous phone banking policy, and receptionist, and one phlebotomist who will wiggle that needle until they might have to amputate one’s arm in order to get a complete draw bring down the rating at this UBS.
Rating: Two-​stars, «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»

Sadly, I give 0 stars to UBS if I could. I donated late 2014. I expressed a great deal of discomfort to the phlebotomist, who decided it was best to jam the needle further into my arm and move it from side to side. He ended up pushing the needle through my entire vein, which caused extensive bleeding and bruising. After a few days, my arm locked in a 90 degree angle and I ended up getting checked for blood clots in the ER. UBS confirmed that they would reimburse me for the medical charges but when it came time to submit my receipts, they all mysteriously disappeared. How disappointing! I’ll be donating elsewhere from now on.

I STRONGY urge you to not consider giving blood to this organization unless you love being telephoned over and over by them.
I’ve given blood several times. This group continues to harass my wife and I over and over. Calls at all times of the day/​night/​weekends.
On top of that, they do not oblige your request NOT to call you.
It is this reason alone that I will never give them a donation again.

Came to United Blood Services (UBS) Sat/​20 Dec about 9:40 am:
— Starting this month I’m only giving blood every Dec for the Penn & Teller Bloody Drive deal (give blood, get 2 tix to their show). I don’t know if UBS is a non-​profit, but if the middlemen are going to make a buck off my A+ grade blood I might as well be compensated. Otherwise I’d just give it to the Red Cross (I also donated during my time back in the service).
— I didn’t know they took appointments. I was just a walk-​in. The wait was only 10 — 15 min to be seen.
— But, the prep stuff (eg blood pressure check), especially the questionnaire (regarding travel/​malaria/​Ebola/​sexual history/​etc) took about 1.5 hr because the new employee/​nurse had problems with the antiquated program (even though UBS recently updated their software) which kept deleting my answers she inputted.
— 11:20 am we’re done with the prep stuff. I wait for my turn to get my blood drawn. 11:30 am — 11:40 am pint drawn. 11:40 I’m at the snack area for liquid and snacks.
— Nurse (s) did tell me it takes average of 15 min to draw a pint, after blood drawn no alcohol for 24 hrs (which made Sat the worst time for me to do it), and also no heavy physical exertion.

Vegas really appreciates it’s blood donors. Though they have been closing donor locations, this one is easy to get to and you are able to schedule your visit in advance online– they also ask that you complete the health questionnaire the day of your visit and bring in your Fast Pass printout. For some this can be inconvenient, but it is also available mobile– unfortunately there are several bugs with doing it that way, but you can do it in person as well, it just takes a bit longer.
Staff are friendly, particularly Joy. Waiting area has magazines, snacks, and TV, as well as free WiFi– they really couldn’t make it much more comfortable if they tried. After donating, there is a wide selection of beverages and snacks to fuel up afterward, including fruit juices, cookies, crackers, pretzels, and various nut mixes.
Probably safe to allow an hour to an hour and a half for your basic donation– the actual blood-​giving portion is only about 15 minutes but they have limited staff on hand and the aforementioned paperwork/​questionnaire can take a while.
Each month, they offer a promotion from a local business or organization offering a discount or freebie coupon with your donation. Annually, Penn and Teller do a ticket giveaway during the holiday season, but other potential gifts include movie tickets, t-​shirts, and buy-​one-​get-​one meals.

Quick, clean, the people who actually work there are amazing.
What I don’t like, though, is each time I’m able to give again, I can expect a call every day while I“m at work until I give again. I shouldn’t feel harassed into giving blood, and wish they’d just chill the heck out!

Me and my son walked in to give blood today and was greeted by the nastiest lady at the front desk, Alma. First of all she was annoyed because she couldn’t find my appointment that I had set online. She then asked me and my 14 year old son for our IDs. I said I have my ID but my son doesn’t. She then nastily said «well then you can’t give blood.» I understand he need for IDs but I can do without the nasty attitude. Remember you ask for volunteers. Don’t let bad people mess up a good organization.

donated blood platelets. the van came to our workplace. I would say the entire process took an hour, from doing the paperwork to leaving the van. the staff was very profession, kind, and courteous. they made the whole procedure very painless. first time I actually donated blood, so I felt very good about myself. not much to say except that it was a great experience and staff was great.

I donated here this past December on the first Monday of my winter break. I had been waiting for my work to do a blood drive, but it never happened so I decided to go in myself since it was in such a convenient location for me. I didn’t make an appointment, so I went in right when they opened at 8 am and ask if they could give a whole blood donation and they welcomed me in with no problem. Everyone was super friendly and they seem very well organized.
I gave them my blood donor card, filled out the questionnaire on their computer, and was seen almost immediately for the first screening with a Phlebotomist. After everything was all clear with my iron levels I was taking into a room with donation chairs and finished donating my blood in about 15 minutes. They resting area is fully stock with plenty of water and juice. They also have the best selection of cookies, I have ever had at a blood donation place (Yes they have Oreos and Milano’s).
Next time I am able to donate, I will be back :)

A couple of months ago I donated blood for the first time, but it was at a NJ UBS facility. This was the first time for Las Vegas. The two places look the same and are run similarly, except that I think I waited a bit longer to be taken here.
The intake interviewer did a great job taking blood from my finger; normally I’d rather have gallons of blood taken from my arm before submitting to one little finger prick, but this time it was painless. On the other hand, the arm puncture HURT! I think both were due to the skills, or lack thereof, of the phlebotomists.
The room is very cold, but I was given a cozy blanket, and the procedure didn’t take very long. What did impress was what happened afterwards: I thought I was fine, went outside to make a phone call, and nearly fainted. Came back in and put my head down on the table, and the next thing I know people were throwing me onto the floor, head on a cushion, ice packs under my neck and other places that wouldn’t be unmentionable, except that I can’t remember where they shoved that ice! After I felt better, I was led back to one of the «donation» chairs, fed juice and pretzels, and they had me rest for a while longer. Kudos to the quick action and excellent care.
Despite the scary experience, I will go back. Glutton for punishment?

I am a platelet/​plasma donor at this site. I go once a month, and I have almost completely positive things to say about everyone here. I left off one star because of a phlebotomist who just doesn’t seem to give a damn doing the job correctly. She has the personality of a slug and she moves a tad faster than that.
In the nine years I have been going to this center, there has been a large turnover. I think people get trained, get some experience, and then move on to better paying jobs.
Still, the act of donating blood or its components is one of the most satisfying things you can do. It takes an investment of time but the rewards are great. In addition, free cookies and gifts after the donation aren’t bad, either. And, you accumulate points. I have enough points now for 15 free movie tickets. Not bad.
Go and join the blood crew who do this regularly.