Blood donation — 0 seconds

Follow a representative recovery after one whole-blood donation, from the first minutes to six months.

Representative model

Change event

Interactive 3D is loading into this same frame contract.

Collection begins · 00:00:00
Collection complete · 00:10:00
First hour · 01:00:00
First day · 24:00:00
One week · 168:00:00
Four weeks · 672:00:00
Eight weeks · 1344:00:00
Twelve weeks · 2016:00:00
Six months · 4032:00:00

Happening now

A standard whole-blood collection is beginning; the displayed values are still at the pre-donation reference state.

Explore the mechanism Blood leaves the circulation

Over about ten minutes a unit of whole blood is collected, taking plasma and red cells out of the circulation together.

Evidence for this step

A whole-blood donation removes red cells along with plasma, so circulating haemoglobin typically falls by close to a tenth in the hours after collection. high · View sources

Model status

Representative modelEducational only

Educational physiology only; not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment guidance.

This event shows a representative pattern across donor studies, not a personal prediction.
Recovery timing varies widely between donors and depends heavily on the iron position a donor starts from.
Several of the timings shown come from small studies that enrolled healthy young men; women and younger donors are far less well represented.
Values are shown as a share of each person's own pre-donation level, so the bands cannot convey how different absolute starting levels are between donors.
This event describes recovery physiology only. It does not state how often donation is permitted; donation intervals are set by regulation and differ between countries.
This draft has not had the domain review its risk class requires and is not approved for publication.

Open the liver in system focus

Blood donation — 0 seconds

Circulating volume

Red cell mass

Iron stores

Red cell production

Iron release and uptake