Blood is an imperative ingredient of the human body and essential for survival. Everyday, accidents, certain diseases and surgeries result in a lot of blood loss which has to be rebuffed in order to stay alive. Hence, blood donation is undoubtedly a life-saving, noble act. There are two types of blood donations: autologous and the usual blood donation. Autologous donation is giving your blood to yourself while the usual one is donating blood for someone else. Blood donation is a very systematic process. The donated blood goes through a number of processes to make sure that the blood is safe for transfusion. This whole procedure is known as blood banking including the classification of blood for transfusion.
In blood donation, not only is the blood banking of the blood important but medical health of the donor is equally important. The donor has to meet the standards so that the blood donated is healthy. The donor has to be 17 years of age or older. He must weigh 110 lbs or more. The medical history, overall health and a close scrutiny of the donor’s recent visitations to areas where he might have come in contact with certain endemic or other diseases is required. Some blood banks also require a photograph of the donor. The donor is also supposed to fill a health questionnaire and go through an interview with a worker at the health care institute every time he comes to donate blood.
The blood donated by donors also goes through a detailed process to ensure it is healthy. There are certain tests performed to determine the state of blood: test to determine the blood type, Rh typing, tests for any RBC antibody harmful for the recipient, tests for infections such as Hepatitis B and C, Human Immuno-deficiency Virus HIV, human T-Lymphotrophic Viruses HTLV I and II and Syphilis. All these tests are performed twice so that the results are dependable. In case an infection is identified in the blood, the donor is informed and prohibited from further blood donation. However, if the blood is fit for transfusion, it is stored until needed. RBCs can be kept for 42 days in a refrigerator while platelets are stored for 5 days at max at room temperature. Plasma once frozen can be stored for up to as long as a year. WBCs on the other hand will not last for more than 24 hours.
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It is important that the donor’s health is not compromised in any way on the day of blood donation. He must feel good. He should also be not taking any kind of medicine that might hinder his donating blood or adversely affect the recipient. The hemoglobin level must also be tested to be the standard. It is advised that the donor should wait for at least 56 days before he decides to donate blood again. There are certain people who are not allowed to donate blood. These include people who have used intravenous drugs, men who have had sex with other men, hemophiliacs, HIV positive, prostitutes, people who have contracted hepatitis after 11 years of age and people infected with Chagas’ disease or Crueutzfeldt-Jakob disease (direct family of the afflicted is also prohibited from donating blood). A misconception related to blood donation is that it may cause AIDS or other infectious illnesses which is not true. The instruments used to draw blood are used only once and disposed off immediately after use. Thus, there is no reason why any such disease could be contracted.
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