A son on the other coast works for a company called BloodSource as a hospital services rep and has been urging everyone in the family to donate to their local blood banks. It’s the kind of request that one can simply put at the bottom of one’s list, given the time that it takes and the invasive quality of the procedure. He’s been out of the house for a decade, but mother that I am–who once supported his athletic teams and school programs and so on–I finally contacted the Hudson Valley Blood Center in Kingston and spent an hour of my busy life to help save someone else’s, and to make my son happy. (He was.)
As I lounged and watched my blood drain into a baggie, it occurred to me–in the midst of this season of hearts and flowers and candy–that the gift of a pint of blood is the ultimate way to express compassion, not only to loved ones, but to unknown members of the human family. It isn’t a sentimental act, but it is often a lifesaving one.
Here are some of the basic facts: One out of three people will need blood during their lifetime. In contrast, an estimated two to four percent of the population in New York is involved in donating blood. Blood is perishable, so the need to replenish the supply is constant and steady if not actually increasing–particularly in our region, which houses some of the best hospitals in the world: Sloan Kettering, Westchester Medical Center, Montefiore in the Bronx, and of course all our excellent local medical institutions. Blood has a rigidly adhered-to shelf life. Certain blood product inventories can be frozen for a finite length of time and can be shipped to fulfill needs in other areas of the country and of the world. Currently, New York imports more blood than it exports.
A brief screening process before my procedure involved a needle stick on a finger to test for anemia, a blood pressure test and the signing of a lengthy form assuring the Blood Center that I was in good health and had “not visited a male or female prostitute recently.” There were other deferral issues, some temporary and others that would permanently eliminate me as a donor candidate, like whether I weighed at least 110 pounds (not a problem), whether I was between 17 and 76 years of age (check), and whether I had spent time in certain areas of the world for any length of time (no such luck). Some of these may seem like intrusive and arbitrary issues, but are maintained in order to assure both the purity of the end product and the ongoing health of the donor.
Even with the precise screening procedure in place, further steps are taken to protect the health of blood recipients. My pint of blood was typed, then tested for hepatitis, HIV, syphilis, and other transmissible conditions. Then it was separated into components–red blood cells, plasma and platelets–to be used as needed, potentially by up to three different patients. The actual procedure was performed by a friendly, specially trained technician and took ten minutes.
If I had chosen to donate platelets only–a concentrated way to extract six to ten times more platelets than a pint of blood contains–the procedure would have taken about an hour. Donors are fed juices and snacks afterwards, and are observed for as long as it takes to recognize any dizziness, dehydration, or other unease. I didn’t experience any. I was informed that it would take my body about a week to rebuild its own supply and that I could donate whole blood again in 56 days. Platelet donors can repeat the process up to twice a month.
Typically, unless she contributes directly to herself before a medical procedure or directly to a known recipient in an emergency situation, a donor does not know for whom or where her blood may be used. Donations spike when a natural or terrorist disaster occurs, which says a lot about the human spirit. When the earthquake hit Haiti recently, people all over the world were willing to give blood. In a press release from the American Association of Blood Banks, task force chairman Dale Malloy said, “US blood banks have enough blood to meet the immediate medical needs of Haitian earthquake victims…and we are diligently working to overcome the logistical challenges to ensure that vital yet perishable blood products reach the patients in Haiti.”
While the call did not go out for more blood donations bound for Haiti, it’s still crucial to maintain a continuous supply that can be shipped wherever and whenever it’s needed. Meanwhile, other humanitarian efforts have been undertaken. New York Blood Center (parent organization of HVBC serving New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley and New Jersey) gave one dollar to the US Fund for UNICEF for each blood donation made from January 25 through 31, earmarking the funds for Haiti.
As the NYBC pamphlet reads: “Blood is unique. It can’t be manufactured or replaced by animal blood or any other synthetic or natural substance. People are the only source of this life-giving fluid.” While you’re busy buying hearts and flowers and candy for the ones you love, consider a heartfelt contribution to your local blood bank.
To find out more about donating blood and other ways you can contribute, like organizing blood drives and donating monetarily, call or visit these sites: AABB at www.aabb.org, (301) 215-6526; America’s Blood Centers at www.americasblood.org, (888) 872-5663; American Red Cross at www.redcrossblood.org, (800) 733-2767; and Armed Services Blood Program at www.militaryblood.dod.mil, (703) 681-8024.