Please donate blood if you are able this month (or any time).
The first month of the year has been recognized as National Blood Donor Month since 1970. According to the American Association of Blood Banks, now known as AABB, in the United States every day, “approximately 39,000 units of blood are required in hospitals and emergency treatment facilities for patients with cancer and other diseases, for organ transplant recipients, and to help save the lives of accident victims.” The AABB works in conjunction with the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers and their main goal is to help those in need of blood, especially in harsh winter environments due to illness, accidents, and unforeseen weather conditions.
In order to donate blood, you have to meet certain donor requirements. The most important is that you must be at least 17 years old in order to give blood voluntarily, although some states do consent at 16 with written parental consent. You must be at least 110 pounds, you should be healthy meaning without infection, not on antibiotics, without a fever, and generally feeling well on day of donation. You may only donate if you have not given blood within 8 weeks. The rest of the guidelines are available here from the American Red Cross.
You may be able to recite them yourself—all those questions we ask you when you donate blood. It's all to ensure the safety of the blood supply. Curious as to why we ask so many and such personal questions before you donate blood? Find out.
I hadn't donated in quite a few years till a blood drive was started by a local Scout for his Eagle project. I ended up donating then and 2 or 3 more times for Eagle projects in a couple of years. Haven't since. Good reminder here. Thanks, Dave.
Thanks for weighing in, Keith.. and thanks for your good service in donating blood!
This is an issue that hits close to home for me. My mom passed away in 1997 when she had to be be given non-crossmatched blood after surgery due to a shortage of blood locally.
This is an issue that hits close to home for me. My mom passed away in 1997 when she had to be be given non-cross matched blood after surgery due to a shortage of blood locally.
That is so sad to read Dave. Did she have a rare blood type? One just would not think and this day and age that we would lose a loved one due to something like a blood shortage.
I hope this is an incentive to get out and donate blood for all that reads this.
I especially hope those that know they have a rare form of blood type and are able to donate to do so as often as possible. You never know, you could make the difference that someone may need.
[I]“Every two seconds, someone in America needs blood,” said Diane Ward. “Chances are, someone in your very community will need blood within the coming year.”[/i]
January 2010: Blood donors honored during National Blood Donor Month
My understanding is, each time you have a blood transfusion your blood type changes slightly.. she'd apparently had so many over the years, her blood type was changed so much as to become rare.. in any case, there were only 2 pints available in her immediate locale and 13 were needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pk
That is so sad to read Dave. Did she have a rare blood type? One just would not think and this day and age that we would lose a loved one due to something like a blood shortage.
I hope this is an incentive to get out and donate blood for all that reads this.
I especially hope those that know they have a rare form of blood type and are able to donate to do so as often as possible. You never know, you could make the difference that someone may need.
I used to go give blood before I found out I was slightly anemic. They would only take my blood if the iron level was at a certain point and three fourths of the time it wasn't even close. It was quite the experience when I was able to give. I had to lay completely down on the chair or else I would get dizzy and pass out. It took me awhile to figure out that worked best for me. I was finally able to give enough blood to receive my one gallon pin. The last couple times I gave though, I got quite ill so went to the doctor and he advised me not to do it anymore since I was so low on iron.
My son told me there's quite a few kids at his college who go to Dubuque to sell their blood to make money. Some go twice a week to do this and some sell their plasma which I guess pays even more. I heard there's a place north of LaCrosse that also buys blood like that. They probably get a lot of business being so close to the colleges.
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January Is National Blood Donor Month
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