Blood Donation and Its Purpose - Research Paper Example

Jacob W. Homola Mrs. Frailly HUM – 220 27th March Blood Donation Introduction Eligible donors in many American cities and Canada and the whole world do not participate in regular blood donation. On a daily basis, several people need a blood transfusion to save their lives. Relatives, friends and doctors of these patients encounter great challenges finding eligible and compatible donors to donate blood for their patient. Sometimes, lives are lost because of inadequate or lack of compatible blood to transfuse. For this reason and for the purposes of ensuring that the blood banks are adequately stocked, it is advisable for all eligible donors to participate in the process of blood donation. Many people do not want to participate in the process of blood donation because of various myths and beliefs. To meet the challenge of blood scarcity in the blood banks, all collection agencies and people should work hand-in-hand to ensure that the challenge is addressed to counter both the short term and the long term blood demands. Blood donation and its purpose Blood donation involves collecting blood from a donor/person who voluntarily agrees to have his/her blood drawn and used for transfusion. The donated blood can also be into biopharmaceutical medications. Blood donation may be of whole-blood (WB) which can be spun in centrifuges to separate the transfusable components which are; red cells, platelets, and plasma. When donors donate blood, it is put in temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius and later put in blood banks after being cleared of any contaminations. In the laboratories of the collecting agencies, blood screening and fractionation is done. The different blood component are separated by the process of fractionation and stored separately in the blood bank. If the blood is found to be contaminated during screening, it is immediately discarded and the donor contacted. Blood donated is used by medics on different patients who suffer different medical procedures, treatments and/or conditions. These medical procedures, treatments and/or conditions include; different forms of surgery, automobile accidents, leukemia, sickle cell disease, bone marrow transplant, cancer, among other medical conditions that require blood transfusion. Today, about 5 million people in the United States and Canada need a blood transfusion yearly. Therefore, it is advisable for eligible donors to donate blood any time they can to ensure that the blood banks have enough blood to counter the demand. Eligible blood donors A person is eligible to donate blood after meeting a number of requirements. These requirements are specifically important because they reduce and/or eliminate the possible complication to either the donor or the recipient/patient or both. The stipulated eligibility requirements set by the American National Red Cross are that the blood donors must be healthy, at least 17 years old in most states, or 16 years old with parental consent if allowed by state law and weighs at least 110 pounds. Males are expected to have heights not below 5’1” and females to have heights not below 5’5” and weighing 130 and 150 pounds respectively. This may vary at different donor centers though. The donors are as well expected to have a good health history. The donor receives a brief examination at the donor center where temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and hemoglobin are measure. This is particularly done to reduce complications as well as ensure that the donor’s health is in good shape at the time of donation (Walters 37). Procedure followed during donation Five major steps for blood donation are the donation, the processing, the testing, the storing and the distribution stages (American Red Cross 2-6). Each one of these stages is very important to the donor and most especially to the recipient/patient. When the first four stages are followed strictly, the danger that the blood can pose to the recipient is reduced by a very big percentage and it majorly eliminates any danger. The donation stage involves the donor registering to donate his/her health history and mini physical examination results are completed. If the donor is eligible to donate after the examination, about 1 pint of blood and several small test tube samples are collected from each donor. The blood samples collected in the small test tubes are the one taken for screening. The bag, test tube samples and the donor record are labelled with an identical bar code label to keep track of the donation. These are then stored in iced coolers to be transported to a Red Cross center. The processing stage involves scanning the donated blood into a computer database before it is spun in centrifuges to separate the transfusable components. The different primary components like plasma, red cells and platelets are separated, bacterially tested and then sent for testing. The different components of the blood are sent for testing in different test tubes. The testing stage is done parallel with the processing stage. The test tubes are received in any of the Red Cross National Testing Laboratories where several tests are performed on each unit of blood donated to establish the blood type and test for infectious diseases. Thirteen tests (11 for infectious diseases) are performed on each unit of donated blood (W Riley et al 33). Once the results are out, they are transferred to the manufacturing facility electronically within 24hours. If a sample is contaminated, the test results come positive that leads to the unit being discarded and the donor notified. Once the blood is tested and the best selected, the suitable ones are labeled and with Red Cells being kept in refrigerators at 6o Celsius for up to 42 days. Platelets then stored at temperature in agitators for up to five days with plasma and cryoprecipitate being frozen and stored in freezers for a period of up to one year. The fifth stage, which is the final step, blood is ready and made available for transfusion and can be shipped to hospitals any time it is needed. Benefits of blood donation Blood donated affects large numbers of people. It as well viewed as a way of giving back to the community. To some people, donating blood, makes them feel great knowing that they have helped patients hope for a better health. By donating blood, you touch the hearts of several people. This is because; you can save as many as three people with 1 pint of blood (W Riley et al. 6). One saves a life of someone loved and cared for by many people. By donating blood, several families do not lose their breadwinners, fathers, mothers, children, sisters, brothers, friends or relatives. It can also serve as an incentive to any eligible donor among the relatives and friends to participate in the practice of regular donation of blood. Recipients of donated blood are able to live normal and even longer lives after the process of blood transfusion during a medical procedure. These benefits even the economy because most of the time patients are able to recover fully and get back to their daily economic activities. Patients who are children and teens are able to recover and get back to their studies and in the end contribute positively to the economy and society in general (Steele 36). The benefits of donating blood to the donor as well can include being notified of any diseases or infections detected in your sample of blood early enough and also one is able to know his/her blood group if they were not aware before donating blood. When the blood samples of a donor are tested and are found to have positive results, a donor is contacted and the results shared confidentially with him/her. By doing so, a person is able to know of any medical condition they may have that they were previously unaware about and seek medical attention immediately. Implications of donating blood There are myths and beliefs clouding blood donation, but research has found that not all of them are significant. Some of these myths are blood donated may contain bacteria and viruses like HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and West Nile virus. Some religious leaders preach against blood donation that hinders potential eligible donors from donating blood. These are not true because all the blood collected must undergo testing and any sample found contaminated is discarded immediately from the blood bank and there is no religious bases that allows people die if they can possibly be saved. Although the process of storing blood in blood banks has been done for several years, it has been discovered that it might have fatal consequences to patients who are transfused with blood that has lasted for a longer period in the blood bank. Seppa states this in his article on “Bad Blood?” in Science News. He believes that the current blood shelf life should be reassessed because of the negative effects it has begun to have on the patients receiving it. This is because of the changing blood cells ability that is partly caused by changing lifestyles and nutrition (Seppa para. 2-25). Solutions to reduce blood shortages in the blood banks Donor recruitment and donor retention, particularly pose a significant problem for blood collection agencies in the United States and the world in general. To reduce the challenges, these collection agencies have to recruit new donors and also retain the already existing donors. This in the long run will be able to ensure steady blood supply in the blood banks. In the short run, the agencies can hold campaigns to motivate the population to donate blood. The United States and Canada needs over 43,000 pints per day of blood. To meet the future demand for blood, it is vital to carry out campaigns aimed at encouraging all Americans to donate blood. Even if only 37 percent of America’s population is eligible to donate blood, there are less than 10 percent who donate annually. If campaigns to encourage an extra percentage of people to donate at least once to thrice a year, the blood banks can be stocked enough to meet the demand. The campaigns should most especially target new and fresh eligible donors, most especially college students. This is because it will be easier since to reach them at institutions as well as in recreational areas. If the younger people are motivated to donate, they will be able to adapt to the trend of donating blood regularly (Strategies for Blood Donor Recruitment Sect. 10, 17, 58 & 225). The campaigns should not only target the young people, it should as well target the other people, older people, in the population. This will additionally help increase the quantity of blood donated yearly. By motivating the entire population to participate in the process of donating blood and explain its benefits, the eligible donors will be encouraged to donate. This will as well contribute greatly in creating a trend of regularly donating blood among the future generations. The collection agencies should be able to find out what motivates donors to donate so that they can be able to retain as well as recruit new donors. Their personnel must create a good relationship and an environment that is comfortable and welcoming for the donors to ensure that they return to donate blood. By focusing on recruiting and most especially retaining donors, the collection agencies can be able to reduce the costs of continuous campaigns to recruit donors and also reduces blood shortages in the blood banks (Masser et al. 5-10). The future of blood donation The future is uncertain for blood donation. This is so because of different reasons. Some of the reasons behind the uncertainty being that the changes in lifestyle and nutrition, hereditary diseases such as cancer, diabetes, just to name a few which might reduce the percentage of eligible donors. This in turn will increase the number of people requiring blood transfusion and could result to supply not meeting demand, which can lead to the importation of blood from other countries or transfusing contaminated blood in case of emergencies. However, not all hope is lost since science and technology have transformed the world to be a global village, and scientists have been able to find cures to some acute diseases such as cancer. In time, probably more people can be able to be born healthy or can be cured for hereditary and/or contracted diseases to fully recover and qualify as eligible donors later on in their lives (Pitocco 36). More people also will be able to donate blood because of the campaigns and awareness raised about blood donation hence ensuring a steady blood supply in the blood banks. Conclusion Blood donation is a divine thing to participate in for any eligible donor. This is the case because a donor is able to contribute his/her blood for saving a life or lives with just a pint or more of blood regularly. A donor is also able to discover if he/she is suffering from any viral or bacterial infection and seek medical attention early during an infection. Blood donation is done safely, hygienically, professionally and the process has no complication to the eligible donors. To ensure that there are steady donations to meet the demands in the United States and the world, the collection agencies must recruit and retain the current and future donors by creating good rapport with the donors and the community in general. Donating blood is not time wasting, donating blood is lifesaving. Therefore, everyone eligible to donate blood should participate for a brighter and healthier country and world. Works Cited American Red Cross. “What Happens to Donated Blood?” U.S.: American Red Cross, Give Blood. 2014. Web. 2014. Pitocco, Christine. ‘Alleviating blood shortages in a resource constrained environment” PubMed.gov PubMed U.S.: National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. July 2005. Web. 26th March 2014. Masser B. M, et al. Predicting Intentions to Donate Blood among Non-donors in Australia: an extended theory of planned behavior. Australia: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009. Print. Seppa, Nathan. “Bad Blood?”Science News. March. 2008. Inform Trade and Industry, ProQuest. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. Steele, Whitney. “The Role of Altruistic Behavior, Empathetic Concern, and Social Responsibility Motivation in Blood Donation Behavior.” Transfusion. Jan. 2008. Mansfield University. Web. 12 Feb. 2014 “Strategies for Blood Donor Recruitment” WHO SEAR, Regional Health Situation, and World AIDS Day, Health Report. 2006. Web 11 Feb. 2014. http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section10/Section17/Section58/Section225_808.htm Walters, Jennifer. “Giving blood: Donating blood is easy and can help save lives. Here’s what you need to know about being a donor.” Scholastic Choices Jan. 2011. Gale Student Resources in Context. 11 Feb. 2014. W Riley, et al. The United States’ Potential Blood Donor Pool: estimating the prevalence of donor-exclusion factors on the pool of potential donors. The 2005 Nationwide Blood Collection and Utilization Survey Report, Department of Health & Human Services. Read More