A professional who collects blood components and provides therapeutic treatments, such as replacement of plasma, or removal of white blood cells or platelets, to patients, using blood cell separator equipment. Responsibilities include:

• Compiles and evaluates donor information to ensure that donor meets screening criteria.
• Connects and installs tubing, transfer pack units, saline solution unit, other solution packs, and collection and separation containers to set up blood cell separator equipment.
• Explains procedures to donor or patient to reduce anxieties and obtain cooperation of donor or patient.
• Performs venipuncture on donor or patient to connect donor or patient to tubing of equipment to prepare for procedure.
• Sets controls and starts equipment that collects specific blood component or adds, reduces, or replaces blood component, and replaces remaining blood in vein of patient or donor.
• Monitors operation of equipment and observes trouble lights indicating equipment problems.
• Talks to and observes donor or patient for signs of distress or side effects such as pallor, nausea, fainting, or other problems during procedure.
• Forwards collection bag to laboratory for testing or further processing.
• Records information following collection or treatment procedures, such as flow rate, body site at which needle was inserted, anticoagulant rate, amount of fluids used, volume processed, red cells lost, and other information.