Octapharma Plasma

Awful business. I moved from Little Rock, AR to Mandeville, La. I was told by an Octapharma employee that Mandeville was in their area and I would be able to keep donating at this location. My files were transferred from LR to this location. The very first time I went to donate, I brought my lease as proof of residence. The lady accepted my lease and put my info into the computer but I was told I needed my Social Security Card as well. I returned 3 days later with my card, but was told I wasn’t allowed to donate because my address was «restricted». Nobody would explain to me what this means. I live in an apartment complex in Mandeville. Nobody would offer me an explanation as to why I couldn’t donate because of my address even though it was in their area. I attempted to contact Octapharma at the number listed on their website and I have left 8 messages. 8. Not a single call has been returned. The staff at this location are also EXTREMELY rude and unbelievably slow helping anyone. The very first time I went to transfer my info I literally waited for over an hour and a half sitting in their «waiting area» to be helped.

Looking to make an extra $ 200 a month and have lots of free time? Come on down to Octapharma and sell… err…DONATE your plasma.
I just finished my first plasma donation. Here’s how it went:
The first donation was said to take 2 hours. I sat down in the waiting room with several forms of ID and a piece of mail to as proof of residency. After a short wait, I was called back to answer questions about my medical history (Have you had sex with anybody from a variety of Central African nations?). Then they took my vitals, drew a tiny bit of blood, and made sure I had adequate levels of iron & antibodies. My pulse barely made the cut (100 bpm) because I was pretty apprehensive. Then came more waiting. Next was the least comprehensive physical I have ever received. No doctor was involved, just two medical techs. No urinalysis, no dropping trou. I didn’t even have to take my shirt off. They did examine my limbs at great length for «wounds,» which is med tech for drug injection sites.
I was told to arrive having eaten a hearty meal, so I ate at 10:30 AM and got there by 11:30. At this point, it was 2:30 PM, so they made me leave and return with a full stomach. After a quick BBQ break at Corkys (gross… review forthcoming), it was donation time.
Before I was taken to the group donation room, they told me that cell phones interfere with the plasmapheresis process. Some shit about how it affects the anticoagulant. They threw out some big sciencey words and expected me to agree. Instead, I laughed out loud and asked if they were serious. There is absolutely no way that cell phones affect the machines. I have to assume they do this for the same reason that airlines try to convince you that phones will cause the plane to crash: people yakking on their phones in close quarters is annoying. In the donation room, there were signs that claimed a phone even in airplane mode would cause interference, but laptops, iPods, and radios were OK. Needless to say I used my iPhone the entire time without issue.
The actual donation process took 45 minutes. And while the needle is pretty darn big, the most painful part was removing the paper tape from my hairy arms after the donation was over. Overall, I feel a little dehydrated, but not any more than after a day at Jazzfest.
The whole first visit experience took four hours, but future donations only take about 90 minutes. If you were going to be sitting on your ass anyway, you might as well get paid to do it and save some lives at the same time. FDA regulations limit donations to twice a week & Octapharma pays $ 20 for the first visit and $ 30 for the second visit in a given week. That’s $ 200 a month for 12 hours of «work.» Not a bad deal at all.