Beware. Within moments after leaving, I began to bruise severely. My bruising is a lot deeper and…read moredarker as the pictures make it look very light. Some staff is good but a lot of staff is rude and NEW. They have a high turnover rate and if you're comfortable with a person practicing on sticking a needle in your arm then this is the place for you .

This place is awful! Don't go here! Their machines are crap, they'll break down and won't be able…read moreto return your red blood cells, so you'll end up getting deferred, due to THEIR incompetence. Go to CSL Plasma instead; they are far superior.

Always a delightful place for donation center. All employees are well trained $ caring. They talk…read moreto you & always make you laugh. Treat you as part of your team. Highly recommend them !!!

The staff here makes the plasma donation process so easy! Everyone from the person that sets…read moreappointments, helps check you in, sets you up in the donation chair and unhooks you from the machine are very personable and caring. Even the interaction you see among their co-workers tells me that they are genuine! Attitudes and demeanor speaks volumes to me about any company and the staff here are exemplary. They are upfront throughout the entire setup about the donation process and keep in contact with you.... without a weird annoying feeling.

Very clean and friendly. It's appointment only to ensure little to no wait times. They did not have…read morelatex free options (for tape, wrap, etc) because they are small and have only been in business for a year, but they were willing to do their best to find something for me. Overall better than CSL except for 2 big things. Prometic pays $10-$15 less per donation and has new and unnecessarily strict rules on tattoos. Permanent deferral for a small tattoo design by my ear because it counted as a "face tattoo". This was not the employees fault, everyone I interacted with while there was exceptionally helpful and kind and I wish I could donate here instead of CSL. The new KEDPLASMA management that is taking over should reconsider their discriminatory tattoo policy as it turned away a perfectly good regular donor.

I have been donating blood here for years back when they were still called Unyts. I normally donate…read moreat the collection location in Tonawanda. My experiences there have always been great. They are very friendly and competent. Going back about 50 years I used to donate to the Red Cross. Red Cross does wonderful things for people in need but I found out that they were charging local hospitals an exorbitant amount for blood. That is why local hospitals approached Unyts which had been an organ donor organization to start collecting blood for them. So all the blood collected by Unyts goes to local hospitals. The Red cross sends much if not all of what they collect to other areas so they can get a good price for the blood.

All the staff at this location is so friendly and still professional. We donate every 8 weeks and…read morehave come to know them all. The location is easy to find and has plenty of parking. The interior is newly renovated, clean and neat. Don't be afraid to donate, it only takes about 30 minutes total of your time and all the blood remains local. They even notify you when your blood is used. It's a good feeling to know you might just have saved a life!

Place is clean and some staff are very friendly. It seems the regulars who I see all the time are…read morealways kind but I've had a few bad experiences with employees at this location before. I took away 3 stars for how CSL as a company runs their sites not because of anything the employees did. They are constantly understaffed which leads to long wait times and many times I've shown up only to find the doors closed because they didn't have enough staff to do any donations that day. I also learned that the people who stick you make wages less than mcdonalds and you can tell they are disgruntled. Makes for a poor and uncomfortable atmosphere.

The workers on the floor are great... most of the screeners are cool too! The donors bring this…read moreplace down. They stink like body odor, marijuana, or both! Most don't have ear buds or headphones so you hear a mixture of everyone's B.S. I can't imagine any location having worse people

I absolutely love this location. The staff is very friendly. The space has been recently renovated…read more(maybe within the last year)!it is very spacious now. Haven't had a bad needle prick yet, which is very important when giving blood for me. They take very good care of you from time you walk to the time you walk out. Never long wait times, with or without an appointment. I was a regular blood donor, but recently my iron has been low, the staff has always given me good advice on how to get my iron back up. P.s.they give out great gifts for donations. But don't let that be the only reason you donate. It is very easy to make appointments. Highly recommend if a donor or interested in donating, this is your spot.

I just went to give blood at the Bidwell/Elmwood bus location this morning. After answering a…read moremillion questions about 5 x each, which is the norm, the girl taking the blood stuck in the needled, then she partially pulled it out and repositioned, which was painful. Still not right! she repositioned with the same need 3 times--I told her to stop. I didn't even take a bandaid form this imbecile. I ran from the bus. On the contrary our church had a drive in June and the initial girl knew she couldn't do it, so called the "expert" to do it. Worked fine. No problems. I wish they had listened to me, as I requested the best person to do it. I am NEVER going back to any location, Takes too much of my time to get to the end and have a dummy that can't find the vein.

The American Red Cross is more than just blood drives and there are some great volunteer…read moreopportunities available.  I am a volunteer  for disaster services and volunteer recruitment. In these roles, with proper training I am able to deploy to a variety of disasters or other catastrophic events. We've had people deploy to areas such as Puerto Rico after the hurricane,  the midwest after flooding and even here in WNY when a shelter is opened the Red Cross is there to respond. This doesn't apply to just large impact events as the Red Cross will come in and provide assistance after a house fire.  As part of the disaster services team additionally you can train to participate in a variety of community and education opportunities such as Sound the Alarm where applicants get 3 FREE smoke alarms installed in their residence (no requirements) and receive fire safety education. Additionally there are opportunities such as the Pillowcase Project where volunteers come into school and discuss disaster preparedness at a school age appropriate level and provide a pillowcase to the students to help them be better prepared or at the adult level you can be a preparedness educator providing adults and teens with disaster preparedness education that covers topics like natural disasters, manmade disasters and active shooter. You'd be surprised how much supplies you should have on hand to be ready for just a few days.  90% of the work completed by the Red Cross is done by volunteers! That includes a variety of roles well beyond my own experiences above. You can provide administrative assistance in the office,  volunteer for blood services by scheduling appointments and working the check-in table or providing transportation. Furthermore there are fundraising volunteers, volunteer recruitment volunteers and services to the Armed Forces.  If you want to learn more, be a recipient of a service such as Sound the Alarm or interested in becoming more involved and make a difference in your community and beyond I highly recommend you check out: https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html

Give blood every 56 days... You can save up to three lives with every donation!!!…read more I've been donating my blood since I was 16 years old, even though I needed parental permission at that age. Even before that, I would go with my Dad every time he donated because I thought it was such an easy way to give back. Since moving back to Buffalo, I've been donating as close to every 56 days as I possibly can, in order to maximize the number of lives I could potentially help to save! Have you given blood? Have you helped to save a life? Some blood types are rare, meaning all the more reason that everyone should try to give blood - at least once! I understand giving blood isn't for everyone but I hope people at least try it once before they dismiss it altogether... ...especially because there are such great places to donate in the Buffalo/Western New York area. Whether it's a roaming blood drive or the American Red Cross site on Delaware Avenue, I've never been disappointed giving blood with the Red Cross. When I'm not donating at UB's North Campus, I frequent this National Red Cross. It's clean, there are plenty of snacks, coffee, water, juices, etc. and their hours are wonderful. They're open six days a week now - closed on Wednesdays of all days! I was in and out in less than an hour. Another thing I like about the Red Cross (as an added bonus) is their tokens of appreciation for donating blood. Sometimes they give away t-shirts and sometimes they have monthly raffles such as gift cards for gas. While this review is about donating blood, this Red Cross is home to other opportunities as well - CPR/AED training, disaster relief, and more! Check it out!

Should be a notice on the wall "if you had a stroke not allowed to give plasma " I went there 2…read moredays and on the last day you see a doctor , he asked what my meds were for.

very slow. more broken machines then working ones. took 1 hour waiting in line after being the 10th…read moreperson in line. seems very understaffed and half the tables are used from a year ago. workers seemed very stressed and unhappy. not seeing a lot old faces there. they said the new machines would speed up your time but the opposite has happened due to fewer machines and the fact that they're always breaking down. 2 hours from walking in to leaving. I am going to try a different location and if the results are same then octapharm.

Five stars for the cause and the actual donation process. Two and a half stars for the awkward…read morecheck in. I'm feeling generous so I will average out to four stars, while telling myself that any awkwardness was due to donating during COVID-19, and the Red Cross hadn't quite figured out how to do things in a time of adjustment. But either way, donating blood is important, and I'm glad I did, for so many reasons. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: "majorly needlephobic" doesn't even begin to cover it for me most days. In 2016, after finding myself in a situation where I would need regular lab work for the rest of my life (not the kind that prevents you from donating), I decided to put it behind me once and for all and give blood. And I did it. Upon finding out that I had an in-demand blood type, I decided that I'd donate again in the future. I chose to return to the Red Cross since I was already in the system, and the location was convenient. Now, here are the quirks of donating during a pandemic: when I arrived, with my mask, no one was at the check in desk, save for a tablet to check yourself in. As I started the process, I heard someone yelling to me: "miss? MISS?" I stopped what I was doing and asked if there was a step I missed. The employee's response was to wave a bottle of hand sanitizer in front of me, as well as a thermometer. Now, since he'd been able to shout to me to get my attention, I'm not sure what prevented him from saying, "can you please let us take your temperature and use this hand sanitizer before you continue?" But I digress. It's a stressful time, and I was nervous enough about the whole donating process in the first place, so I let it go. The actual donation was very smooth. I had a different technician who stayed with me the whole time and talked to me to distract me as needed. Pro tip: if you're nervous about donating, going to a dedicated donation center such as this one will help. Those chairs are the best. Make sure you drink a ton of water before and after. Your body will want to retain all of it for a few days, so plan accordingly. I will definitely return to the Red Cross, pandemic or no pandemic, because I'm able to see past my own fears for what the big picture is. I do wish they wouldn't call a million times when you're eligible to donate again. Pro tip to the Red Cross: I'll call you. Don't worry about scheduling me again. I'll be there, with water, and as long as you have someone at the desk when people check in, we'll be just fine.

Give blood y'all! I've given blood for years and have been to this location a couple of times now…read more As far as the draining of one's bodily fluids go (and sometimes putting them back in), this is the place to do it! The facility is clean, and the people are as nice as should be expected. This isn't the service industry and they don't work for tips, so I don't expect them to provide "stellar service". They did what they do with me in a timely fashion. They didn't leave a mark and they fed me afterwards. I had no issues with check in or registration. I even got to watch TV while I gave blood. Consider it a success!