Not everyone realizes how safe and easy it is to donate blood. Today’s widespread mobile and stationary collecting banks or centers operate under strictly regulated health inspections and rules. The blood donations themselves take no more than 25-minutes per person. Donors often receive a free gift, like, a well-made T-shirt or coffee mug for doing something charitable – helping to save lives. Much of the following information came from public blood banks and related references.
Who needs your blood?
* Hospitals everywhere
* Patients undergoing surgery, organ transplant, or cancer treatment
* Severe burn victims
* Victims of bad accidents or violent attacks
* People with diseases requiring blood transfusions
Requirements for donating it.
* Age: 18-years-old or older; 17 with written parental permission
* Health: relatively good (no open sores or major diseases)
* Weight: 110-pounds or more
Eight steps to the blood giving process.
1. Beforehand. Get a good nights sleep, eat regular meals, and drink fluids.
2. Registration. Present a photo-ID and address at the reception desk (2-5 minutes).
3. Health history. Provide personal and past-present health information, mostly by doing question-answer paperwork (5-8 minutes).
4. Mini-physical. A technician checks the donor’s arms, veins, blood-pressure, pulse, body temperature, and hemoglobin (5-8 minutes).
5. Hydration. Drink the water, juice, or soft-drink provided before the donation (2-5 minutes).
6. Donation. Blood is drawn from one arm while the donor tries to stay awake on a comfortable couch-like platform. He or she also squeezes a soft handheld object every five-seconds during the one-pint bloodletting collection (the actual donation). When done, the technician will put a band-aid and wrap onto the donor’s arm (8-25 minutes total).
7. Revitalization. Sit and relax a few minutes at the snack station. Eat and drink something, mostly cookies, fancy crackers, snacks, coffee, juice, or soft drinks (5-10 minutes).
8. Afterwards. Avoid heavy strenuous work or exercise for several hours. Drink healthy fluids.
Additional information.
* Less than 5% of the eligible population donates blood.
* Each day, hundreds of blood units and its components are required to meet the needs of patients in the hospitals of populated areas.
* Summer and holiday donations decrease by 20% as the demand increases.
* One in three people will need a blood transfusion in their lifetime.
* One unit of donated blood can help save two lives, depending on the exact circumstances.
* Red blood cells must be used within 42 days.
* O-blood type is universal. It can be used with all blood types.
* Donors receive free cholesterol and HIV screens.
* At some centers, donors can credit their donations to specific organizations or groups where someone might eventually need a transfusion.
* Blood donors are eligible to donate again after 56 days (every eight weeks or six times a year).
* Professional researchers study the process of donating blood to find the best ways to maintain an adequate blood supply through the latest techniques.
In summary, the donating of blood is a worthwhile low-key act one can do safely and quietly without fanfare. Also, any prospective donors wanting to give something other than the whole blood itself can give red cells, platelets, or other blood components through modern fairly rapid apheresis processes instead.
For more information on donating blood or its components, see the following sites, or check with your nearest blood blank.
