American Red Cross

This place is amazing! :) I met so many nice people. The workers and volunteers always smile at you. It makes Red cross a happier place to be in! Love volunteering here! I’d just like to add that Mary, the volunteer coordinator, is way to kind. :’) The Red Cross is AWESOME!

I would like to complain about the service that American Red Cross is providing to donors in San Jose, California. I had an appointment for 10:15 am at San Jose Blood Donation Center this Saturday (¹²⁄₁₉), but only at 10:40 the staff told me they were running one hour late at least. I complained to the supervisor and got to know that there were only 3 people for 15 appointments. Not their fault. Fair enough. I just would like to know why Red Cross Call Center called my home and asked me to go there at 10:15 if they do not have enough people to take the blood from the donors. I donate blood for many years, and i am happy to help, but I will definitely look for another institution to make donations. American Red Cross does not respect the time of their supporters.
–at American Red Cross Silicon Valley

I like to help save lives in any way possible. I came in for my 2pm appointment and everything from there on was smooth sailing. The clinic is clean and bright. They have about 8 donation chairs, from my visit yesterday I was the youngest donor. They have a resting area with refreshments (juice and individual sized snacks) and stickers and an updated bulletin board you can spend some time overseeing. I am a bleeder, so it doesn’t take long for me to finish! I personally love drawing blood myself, it was the most fun category for me in m.a. school.
I’ll be back in January!

Had a bad experience during a platelet donation. After 15 years of non eventful pheresis donations, I apparently had a very bad reaction to a blood thinner used in the process. Nausea, cold sweat, muscle cramps, breathing difficulties, lips & fingertips throbbed & vibration (not just tingling). What made it worse was the staff did not react very well. Tech had no idea what was going on and supervisor was unclear. Communication was poor and there was no apparent medical staff to help. After asking to talk to a doctor a few times, I was finally allowed to speak with a Dr. Friday??? who did not listen to what I was saying and had no idea what to recommend. I believe donors should be made aware of the possibility of any potential reactions or negative health complications. Calcium depletion is also now of concern for me since I am now low (osteopenia). I hope this review is helpful to the red x and donors to improve the experience and safety of the process. I doubt that I will ever participate in the future.

Took a CNA class at the Commerce California location paid $ 1500. We had 5 different instructors over the course. Everyone taught their own method not Red Cross method. One instructor read only from the book and didn’t teach at all and when it came time for him to instruct or we asked questions he would tell us «whatever» or «close enough» or «I don’t know». The facility where we got hands on training at was a 2 star facility and did not train in the Red Cross Manner. Instructors never checked on you if you were doing things right and instead were taught the facilities way of doing things. Lots of short cuts and no real infection control. Lots of mistreatment in the facility. I graduated with honors but when it came to the State Board testing 7 out of 13 failed! I being one of them. I expected more from the Red Cross!

I was able to walk-​in without an appointment to donate blood. They were very accommodating and nice — even to those a little nervous about donating blood for the first time in a long time! I went in during a promotion but chose to receive an American Red Cross hat. I booked my next appointment here and can’t wait to do this again.

The RN evaluators for the CNA testing here are nice at first, but quickly become very frustrated, annoyed, and even condescend the testers. From making snide comments like «use your brain», to blatantly sighing and shaking their heads, there is no promotion of knowledge or meaningful learning that happens here. They failed me for 1 step I missed on a skill that I know I did right. I appealed it and later the higher RNs overruled it and certified me :) wheelchair was missing a wheel and beds are cranked up. I don’t recommend this facility.

I took an adult pediatric first aid/​cpr/​aed class here to get certified. I signed up for a 6.5 hours class and was surprised to find myself engaged and having fun for the entire time. Brett Taylor was my instructor and made the class very entertaining. He made me feel confident in my skills by the end of the class and answered any questions very thoroughly and clearly. I highly recommend taking a class here with him.

Love this facility. The staffs are nice and really helpful. They are clean and organized. This is my first time blood donation and I hope my blood helping more people who need it.
Definitely I will be back again for my next blood donation.

This review is for the Babysitting training course.
My 12 year old daughter took the all day class to earn her Babysitting certification. Her instructor Henrique was excellent. The class was interactive, and they got to practice handling emergencies and conflicts. They also discussed how to get jobs, and how to interview parents to get all the information needed for a successful job. She was armed with materials to bring home. I feel confident she’ll be successful as a sitter, and hone skills that will help her in any vocation.
As well as earn some pocket money to spend at Daiso or Cloud 9.

Haha. so during the pre-​screen and survey where they take your blood pressure and pulse? Yeah… It took 3 people to find my pulse. I didn’t know it was hard to find. They all asked if there had been any issues before. NOPE! I’m a constant donor… never had a problem with my veins or my pulse during donation.
My friend Grace and I had a donation date and I arrived first, I surveyed first… I ended up getting my blood drawn after her and finishing after her. I arrived 15 minutes before she did!
Everyone was humorous there. Although there was one kinda creepy guy working there that just stared a really long time. Made it awkward as he’s across the room behind the counter my friend is at and just STARED,
My walk up appointment was a bit face paced. The lady already asked when I’d like to donate again and set up an appointment in September for me. Never had that before.

Been coming here for quite some time. Everyone is very nice, talkative and always will answer any questions you have!
I try to give two pints when I come in because I have a negative blood type, see if you can next time you come in!
Please donate!

This business sucks! We have been doing direct donations for my father for 9 months now. The first couple of months was through Stanford and honestly I thought that was how all blood banks worked. Well was I in for surprise with this place! They refuse to allow me to donate more often due to my dads need, they make the process almost unbearable with their red tape and to top it off the director seems to think that any blood will work for my dad. It’s unfortunate but it doesn’t! My dad rejects all blood but ours. His doctor has even told them this but they just don’t care!
Biggest problem? We can’t donate anywhere else! The hospital only uses these donkeys! I hate this place and can’t wait until my dad is healthy again! Horrible horrible experience every single time!

Red Cross services, skills trainings, blood center… saves lives. I enjoy contributing to that ;)

I gave my very first blood donation here. Yes, and I will admit that I was scared as a cat as a first timer. It showed from the moment I walked through those doors and signed in.
After signing in, you are required to read through some information. The check in desk people are really nice. I was then called up by my adviser, Angela. She saw how nervous I was and tried really hard to calm me down while she ran some test such as taking blood pressure, pulse and answering questions on the computer.
You are then taken to the blood withdrawal room. Angela was really nice at calming me down and even brought over a magazine to help take my mind off of ‘the needles.’ There was always a very calm tone when speaking to me and that definitely helped even though I stuttered through my scared and nervous state. She even agreed to take pictures of the procedure with my phone. Those leather seats were super comfortable too.
I was then offered a variety of food and beverages in the rest area. Duy, the volunteer, was super nice and friendly in filling up my juices and bringing them to me as well preparing my Keurig coffee. Yes, it took me a long time to get over the fact that I had a needle stuck inside me for blood withdrawal. I think Keepler is a sponsor because they provided all the snacks with wafers, cookies, cheez its and raisins. The wafers were so yummy.
I really wanted to save lives and didn’t wanted to wait for trucks to come to my location. This is a great walk in place. I can’t wait to come back for my next donation.

I have done my last 4 blood donations here and I love this place. The volunteers are all friendly as are the phlebotomists who take your blood. I came in for the Alyx and Tracy stayed late just so that I could get the procedure done. Granted I was bumped from my appointment time, but still, rather that they get all they can then turn someone with an appointment away. The facility is clean, the staff are great, and I will keep coming back!

I think it’s been at least five deposits that I’ve made here. I remember the first time I tried to schedule a blood donation I was crazy nervous. It wasn’t because I was a good person or because I wanted to save lives, it was really because I was uncomfortable with it and for the last few years I’ve been trying to knock my fears out one after the other. It was something new and even among my hardcore tough guy friends, getting stuck with a needle wasn’t something they’d volunteer to do. And conveniently there was a red cross in my city.
After a quick read through online about what to expect and what might happen, I made the phone call and scheduled my first whole blood donation. Because I was a bit scared I had one of my sisters sign up with me. The words «bring your I.d.» have never made me feel so distracted. I always take my i.d. everywhere I go but now that it was a must have for this event I found myself padding my pockets down every hour just to make sure I was leaving with it. My sister and I get there, sign in, wait a bit and we head into a room for each of us for our evaluation.
You get your finger pricked to test iron levels and you take a questionnaire that has you reliving every instance you may or may not have been around other peoples blood. I don’t do drugs but it was asking so many times about it I began to doubt my memory of an adolescent. Everyone is nice, the techs, the receptionists, and the bosses floating around. They want you happy so you can come back and you want you happy so nothing goes wrong. I’m now healthy enough to move on.
I meet up with my sister and we sit sort of next to each other. In this big room you’ll see two rows of big ass recliners facing each other with a ten foot gap and sectioned off by a short wall to your right as you walk in is the recovery corral which when you’re done losing weight by blood, you’ll go for snacks and juice. I was laying there, reclined, draining myself into a bag and it was a head trip. I wasn’t a big guy so a pint of blood for me at the time did make me feel a little woozy. The short pinch of the needle being slipped in and out at the start and end didn’t bother me but it was me suddenly popping up off the chair when my bloody bag was full that turned out to be too much too soon for my body.
It was like the shutters to my eye lids were being pulled down and gravity was extra strong that moment because holding myself up became the task my legs didn’t want to accomplish. I almost fainted. So the technicians helped me lay back in the recliner for a few minutes and I delicately got up as if I was a ninety year old glass doll. It helped. I got juice and ate a lot of cheezits!
I was home free and safe. The rest of the week or so it was normal, you’re just advised no heavy lifting so my work outs and running were put on hold. I went back again months later for whole blood and three more times for platelets and another time for whole blood again with my nephew. The platelets was about the same as the whole blood experience except that it’s about two and a half hours so you’re recommened to bring tunes to pass the time or they provide a movie with their decent dvd collection. Now for me all that’s left is the red blood cells.

I’ve been a regular blood donor for about 6 years now, and this Red Cross has always been my home donation center.
The volunteers here are friendly and professional, as are the nurses that will end up doing your pre-​donation screening and drawing of your blood. The whole process is smooth if you make an appointment.
I have recently discovered that Saturday’s are a great day to go in for an appointment, since not too many donors think about going in on the weekends.

This was my first time donating blood, so I didn’t know the routine. I read the binder in the waiting room about all the reasons you should not donate blood, and I thought that would be the end of it. But no, then you are asked to go into a little room with the next person who happens to be available, and answer some very personal questions on a laptop. That’s all fine, but what I didn’t know is that if I answered yes to any of the personal questions, the man assigned to me, younger than me, was going to get even more personal and probing. I had to list out all my miscarriages and their dates to this man, for example. Next time I will be sure to ask for a woman.
After his asking me all these personal questions, I checked out fine on iron level, blood pressure, and temperature, so we went to the donation room. There, once I had started donating, he stood by my side and made lewd comments to a female coworker every time she came by! This man, who had just been asking me personal question! I wasn’t impressed.

I am one to always donate and volunteer. I am a person that gives money to the people on the street. I am someone that buys food for the people on the street when I don’t have cash. I am someone that put in time and money to buy ingredients, prep and prepare sandwiches for the homeless in San Francisco. I even have pet food for the homeless pets, too and for strays.
I do this year round, not when it’s the holidays or when a disaster strikes.
This is the 2^nd time I have donated blood in the last 4 months. The reason why I was here was solely for the victims of the Boston marathon. After watching countless graphic images whilst I was at the gym, I came back to work to make an appointment. Walk-​ins accepted and appointments accepted but if I were you, I would just go in because the wait was an hour for me despite having the appointment. I did not appreciate the wait at all but since I’m over here fine and dandy, I knew a lot of people out there aren’t so fortunate so I stopped complaining in my head. I was really *grrrrrrr* though.
The process was painful due to a few pokes here and there. My scars did not make this an easy task so I cried (I cry every time) but it’s life and all I wanted to do was to contribute and I accomplished that.
Staff and volunteers were friendly… can’t say much else; needles scare me.
My reward after? A fried chicken waffle sandwich.