Dear reader, The American Red Cross donation centre is one of those rare places I am always genuinely happy to return to. I donate every time I am eligible, like clockwork, and the experience here has been consistently excellent. There is tons of parking, which makes arriving easy, and the building itself is nice, clean, and well set up for a smooth visit. Inside, there are plenty of chairs, and I have rarely had any issue with a long wait, provided I have made an appointment, which I always do. The whole process feels organised and efficient without ever feeling rushed. More importantly, the staff are so nice, skilled, and reassuring, and they truly seem to love what they do. That sort of energy makes a real difference when one is sitting there preparing to part with a pint. I also must give a proper shoutout to Trina and Flora, who have done my donation a few times and absolutely rock. They are kind, capable, and the sort of people who make you feel completely at ease. A final point in this establishment's favour: the snacks are great, which is no small matter after donating. Overall, this is a thoroughly well-run place doing important work, and I will happily keep coming back. read more

American Red Cross - CPR Classes Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Fairfax, VA - I've been giving blood for years. I prefer this location rather than the mobile units as I believe the phlebotomists here have more experience since this location also does platelets and power reds. My best advice to avoid scheduling issues is to schedule an early morning appointment. By late afternoon things can sometimes be backed up causing a longer wait. Another plus to this location is they no longer have to prick your finger to test your iron level prior to donating. Now they use a device that is placed on your thumb which uses light to detect your blood iron. Pretty nifty! The donation process takes place in comfy chairs and goes by quickly if you remember to hydrate ahead of time. The phlebotomists are all very professional and take care to check on you throughout the process. The snacks afterwards in the canteen vary. I had Oreos, Cheese It's and Lorna Doones. One small beef I have is there's no recycling bin for the water bottles. I try to remember to bring my own reusable bottle or I bring the empty home to recycle. read more

See all

Staff are friendly. They do a good job and keep things moving along without too much of a wait. Free WiFi too. They have a nice variety of snacks after you donate blood. read more

American Red Cross - CPR Classes Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Updating review, as my third attempt to donate blood here was finally successful. First try was previously reviewed. Second was cancelled my Red Cross. Third time was a charm! Check in was a breeze. The technician who assisted with intake was very professional and attentive. The donation process was very smooth. Will be back in 2+ months to do my part in saving lives again! read more

American Red Cross - CPR Classes Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

See all

Hannah was the BEST RN ever! Stopped in to donate blood and she was detailed, friendly, and her needle stick was seamless. Their canteen is packed with snacks and they are on time when you make an appointment. Thanks Hannah! read more

Tried to donate a power red and ended up with the trauma below. First unit draw seemed OK, but the back wash started blowing up my arm. After this, I demanded the needle be removed and spent the next 20 minutes laying on the floor in the canteen. No one even asked if I was OK. Could have just died there without any concern. I am in the medical profession and will not let these fools near me again. read more

American Red Cross - Carnage from a double red donation. - CPR Classes Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

See all

Waste of time. I get there 15min early to check in and am told they don't have machines or staff to do platelets. When I ask why they didn't call me to cancel my appointment then before I wasted my time driving all the way out they said they tried calling a lot of people but got voicemails. Lies. I have zero missed calls and certainly no message. Even up until this afternoon I was still getting emails asking to confirm and to have my rapid pass ready etc. The external waiting area looks shabby and in general the location looks run down. They asked if I could give whole blood instead but not only is that not what I'm there for but I don't even trust the sterility nor capability or professionalism of the staff that is there. Hard pass. Donate elsewhere! Don't waste your efforts on them because they will have no problem wasting your time. read more

I've posted a couple times about how badly they run this center. I've waited for hours, had appointments cancelled, been turned away at an appointment just before a holiday because staff decided to close early, etc. Today, I went in for a Power Red donation -- the first in a long time. And guess what? I get there and get told that no one ill be in that day who can do Power Reds. No one. I asked, as I have before, why no one reached out to let me know and I got shrugged shoulders like usual. They have two phones, two emails, my physical address, and every other little bit of information about me and yet no one can tell people in advance that coming in is pointless? This goes for all the other Power Red donors today. They'll all come in over the holidays for no reason at all. Whenever I call they always tell me that for my type of blood (uncommon) they want Power Reds not whole blood. Sometimes platelets. And yet, I show up and it can't happen. Ugh and totally inexcusable considering how long they've been this bad. read more

I keep getting texts, emails and calls to give blood. I made an appt and showed up 15 mins late and they sent me home. If the people working there cared to get my 0- blood. I tried to call them and left a msg that I'd be late. They didn't answer and didn't bother to call me back (yes, someone was there), to let me know not to come, so I got all the way there before finding out that I couldn't give blood and had come all the way there for nothing! read more

At the Red Cross to take a CPR/AED class. Easy online registration process. Location of the class was convenient to my residence. Nancy was our fearless leader. She was knowledgeable, friendly, and got us out on time. Class size was approx 10 people. Room was ice cold. So, bring a jacket. Now that I'm certified, it's time to apply for this yoga instructor position. read more

I've written before about how bad the Red Cross HQ blood donation center is, but I was stupid enough to try again. This is Strike 3 for them in less than two months despite the fact that they keep sending out notices that the blood supply is dangerously low. This is the text of the email I sent their Customer Care people in the hopes that they will do something. They don't seem to understand that calling people to tell them about delays/changes/whatever would be a good idea. --------------------------- Well, I tried again and it didn't work because the HQ donation center is so badly run. I had a 12:45pm appt on 12/24 (Christmas Eve). I showed up early (left home at 12:15 and got there at 12:35) and there was a sign that said appointments were running 90 minutes late. 90 minutes. They had my name and number, but no one called. Shouldn't someone have called? I stood there and did the math. 12:45 appt. 90 min delay. At best I'd check in at 2:15 (likely 2:30, let's be honest). 15 mins to check in (2:45). 10 mins to get set up (let's round to 3:00). 45 mins for power reds (3:45). 15 mins to shut down and wait in waiting area (4:00). So overall (on Christmas Eve) this would take 12:15-4:20 door-to-door. More than 4 hours. I declined, thanked the girl at the desk and left. If the girl (who wasn't busy because she wasn't actually checking anyone in, clearly) had just called me and said, "Show up at 2:15," I would have adjusted and come at 2:15. But wait for 90 minutes when I had no reason to believe it would actually only be 90 minutes? Unreasonable. I've just about given up on the Red Cross. read more

I recently went to give blood my appointment was 445 I was there about 10 minutes early just in case I needed any more forms to fill out they were not busy there a lot of people not doing anything and most stations were open. I was told there was a 70 minute wait I waited almost 2 hours it is completely ridiculous because everyone goes in with an appointment so if you're gonna have a two hour wait then you should just reschedule the appointment and this is why people don't want to give blood and then I'm asking how long it'll take and The person in the front desk says something under her breath. I will never go to this location again it just didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. read more

American Red Cross - CPR Classes Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

See all

I donate platelets every two weeks and I have a great friendship with the staff. Great place to donate blood/platelets. Very happy with Red Cross! read more

So today is my THIRD time coming here at my scheduled appointment time and upon check in I'm told it's a 50 minute wait. Last couple times it was 1-2 hour delay. This is a horribly run operation, disrespectful of our time, and is losing donors. They have our phone numbers, a simple call to give a heads up so as not to waste our time is all it takes. I'm done wasting my time at this location in Fairfax VA. Same supervisor. read more

I have been donating the American Red Cross for over twenty years. Unfortunately, the quality of professionalism/service has been getting steadily worse over the past few years to the point of where I actually walked out the last time after signing in. I had seen and heard enough. The way they talk to each other, the donors, even the Fedex delivery guy. I was appalled in how they clearly where not happy to be there and did not appreciate the fact that I was taking an hour or two, sometimes more if they were not motivated to do things the past few years, out of my day to donate (double red). I really don't feel comfortable having someone poking around on me with that bad of an attitude! Center-wide, multiple years now. Not an isolated instance/person. I will not be going back. I will take my three donations per year somewhere else. read more

I was excited to give platelets for the very first time. I took off work a little early and drove almost an hour to get to my appointment. I was there, because of horrible traffic, seven minutes late. When I got there, their computer didn't work to log me in and that took them approximately six minutes to fix. When I was ready and registered, the woman came out and told me that they would not take my donation because I was more than five minutes late. I thought the Red Cross was in the business of saving lives. Apparently, they aren't. No one took a moment to ask me why I was late or how far I came. No one cared. When I questioned them, she just kept saying that I was five minutes late. Shame on them. read more

Just wanted to give a shout out to Bilal, the phlebotomist who helped me donate today. I mentioned that almost 10 years ago I forced myself to get over my very bad phobia of needles specifically so I could donate blood. I still don't like needles much, so I look away when ever I'm going to get poked with something. Bilal took it upon himself to distract me when he was doing the finger jab and when he was putting in and taking out the needle, even though at this point I would not consider myself to be afraid of needles. Also, I had blood drawn from my good vein arm yesterday, meaning he had to use my challenging vein arm and he got my vein on the first attempt with zero issues. read more

I came here for my CPR renewal and left with a better understanding and respect for my certification. Meosha was our instructor and she was very knowledgeable. She was very enthusiastic about the class and gave great demonstrations. Out of the 6 students, only 2 of us were present which we definitely benefited from because we got to practice more. The equipment they provided was amazing! For every compression the mannequin showed a red light symbolizing the blood flow to the brain. We also given pocket masks in a handy pouch to keep with us in case of emergencies. If you ever need to be CPR certified or a CPR renewal, I highly recommend taking it with the American Red Cross! read more

Came here for class, second time. Security lady said there's no class. Our teacher pulled a no show. The building was definitely nice and I was definitely looking forward to taking this class and get it over with. Get it together Red Cross read more