Blood Donation – Shedding Blood for Humanity – Liam Sweeny

Blood donation. An article by Liam Sweeny.

A drunk driver swerves erratically down a busy street, losing control of the steering wheel and colliding with a woman in an SUV. The drivers’ side door is crumpled; she’s hurt, and the baby in the seat next to her might just become an orphan on day five if not for the passionate dedication of hospital trauma surgeons and bag after bag of life-saving elixir hanging from gleaming IV poles.

Downstairs, they’re getting padded tables out for another drive.

According to the American Red Cross, 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day. The average transfusion takes up three units, but a single car crash can go through as many as 100 units. And 90,000 to 100,000 people are affected by sickle cell anemia and need blood transfusions all their lives. Add to that people with different cancers and hemophiliacs.

Almost 7 million people donate blood every year, putting 13.6 million units of whole blood and red blood cells into the nation’s supply. And close to half of the country, 45%, have some form of type O blood, which is most requested by hospitals. Type O negative, also called “universal donor blood” is in 7% of the population and can be given to anybody.

It would seem like there is more than enough blood being donated for the nation’s blood supply, so why donate? Blood has a shelf life; it can’t be frozen or stored for a day when more is needed. Red blood must be used in about 6 weeks, and platelets (a component of blood) must be used within 5 days. And while over 13 million units are collected a year, about eleven million of that are used for transfusions. Add to that the blood that is tested and for some reason can’t be used. Add to that a guarantee that the country is going to have to discard blood and platelets that they can’t use in time, and this can put us in very bad situations, blood-wise. When they say the blood supply is critical, it’s not false advertising.

So let’s say you would like to shed blood for your fellow human being. It can be scary if you’ve never done it before. There’re needles involved, and you will lose a significant amount of blood, more than a paper cut. So let’s go through it, so you know what to expect.

First things first, let’s dispel some myths or misconceptions. There are a few. The first one is tattoos. You can donate blood if you have a tattoo or thirty. You just have to wait three months in a state that doesn’t regulate tattoo facilities. Guess what state doesn’t regulate tattoo facilities? So get a tat, and wait three months.

The next one is about medications. Some of you think that if you take medications, they’ll be in your blood and you can’t donate. Not true. They can filter most stuff out. Aspirins, you have to wait a little before a certain type of donation, and you can’t donate if you’re on certain specific medications, like antibiotics or blood thinners, HIV medication, stuff like that. But a surprising number of meds are okay.

This goes for diseases. You can donate blood is you aren’t the picture of good health. You just need to have those diseases or illnesses managed, and that’s for your own safety. Certain diseases, like hemophilia, any hepatitis and HIV will keep you from donating.

A full list of what you take, have, and do, and how it affects blood donation can be found on the Red Cross Blood Services website.

One myth that, sadly, has some basis in fact is that gay men can’t donate. It’s a myth because men who have sex with men (MSM) can donate three months after their last sexual contact. However, this would preclude many gay men from donating. This issue originates from the FDA’s guidelines on blood and blood products.

A clip of the Red Cross’s policy statement reads:

“The FDA guidance “Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products” states, “Defer for 3 months from the most recent sexual contact, a man who has had sex with another man during the past 3 months.” All U.S. blood collection organizations must follow this federal requirement.

The Red Cross recognizes the hurt this policy has caused to many in the LGBTQ+ community and believes blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation. We are committed to working with partners toward achieving this goal.”

None of this applies to lesbian and transgender donors.

So those are the myths and the truths. Let’s walk into our local college, firehouse, or Elks club and prepare for bloodshed. (I’ve only gone to Red Cross drives. Your experience may vary if you go somewhere else.)

Sign up, of course, and bring your phone. You might have to wait a little bit before getting through the process. But eventually, your name will get called, and you’ll go into a little privacy booth for the questionnaire (which you can fill out from home on the Red Cross site and speed this up. It’s called, appropriately, RapidPass,)

They take your vitals, and if you have very high blood pressure, they won’t let you donate. But let’s say you don’t. They prick your finger to test your hemoglobin, make sure you’re not anemic. They ask a ton of questions, and some are about sex stuff, but nothing creepy. And once you do the screening, you get your table.

So your table, padded, might not be the most comfortable thing in the world, but you won’t be on it long. Blood donation is surprisingly quick. This is because the needle is a little bit thicker than your standard IV needle. It’s not huge, but it’s big enough that you’re not sitting there for hours.

Do yourself a favor and hop on your phone. It’ll pass the time. You might feel a little weird. You’re giving blood, and your body doesn’t know of your charitable heart. So you might break a sweat; it’s a nervous thing. You’re not dying, and very few people pass out. Mostly people who do are dehydrated to begin with (drink plenty of water before you donate.) or nervous about needles and blood. Let’s face it, some people faint at the sight of blood.

You’re probably not going to faint. Not a huge problem.

When you’re done, they’ll wrap the area in strips or red gauze, and they give you cookies and orange juice to bring your fluids and sugar up. You sit there for a little while to let your body adjust, and when you feel “adjusted,” you take off.

So, aftercare. It’s only going to take a day or so for your body to replace the platelets and plasma – the blood volume, but it’ll take two months to replace the red blood cells. So that’s how often you can donate – every two months. Eat foods rich in iron for a few days. You lose a little iron when you donate. I’m not a chef, so maybe ask a nutritionist (or Google) for a good set of blood enriching food choices.

So go out and donate. Save a life or three. It’s literally the best deed you can do without pulling someone out of a burning car, and that’s also saving a life but with more flair.

If you donate one day, you can kind of be a dick the rest of the year and the scales will still balance. So go do it. Shed blood for humanity. Your own.