Blood donation is the act of giving blood for patients in need of transfusions, and this article details the history, process, types, and importance of donating blood.
Have you ever seen a blood donation van in high school? Or maybe you’ve heard about a blood drive while walking down the street? Or maybe you’ve heard about blood donation in some other way, but how did it start and what is the process involved?
Blood donation is the act of giving blood to a patient in need of a transfusion, but how did it get started? In 1667, Dennis, a Scotsman, and Lower, an Englishman, each transfused a sheep’s blood into a human, but both died, leading to a 150-year ban on blood transfusions, until 1818, when a British mother hemorrhaged heavily postpartum and tried again, this time successfully. However, at that time, the ABO blood group was not discovered and transfusion side effects were frequent, making it difficult for blood transfusions to become widespread. However, with the discovery of the ABO blood group by Landsteniner in Germany in 1900 and the storage of blood using anticoagulants, blood transfusions became common as a safe treatment, and the first blood donation in the United Kingdom began in 1921 when a Red Cross first aid instructor sought donors. In Korea, blood donations and transfusions were performed by the direct transfusion method, in which 50 to 100 mL of blood was taken directly from the donor and transfused immediately, from the end of World War II to the beginning of the Korean War. After that, the need for blood transfusions was emphasized by Korean military doctors who experienced the effects of blood transfusions during the Korean War, and blood banks were established in 1952.
There are four steps to donating blood. The first is a blood donation counseling session. This is where basic tests are performed before the blood is actually drawn. It’s called a questionnaire, where you go through a questionnaire to see if you’re taking any medications that would affect your ability to donate blood, if there’s any reason why you shouldn’t donate blood, and then they take your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, and then they do a blood type test, and then they take your fingerprints, and then the nurse checks to see if you’re a suitable donor. The second step is to draw blood for a blood test to make sure you’re okay to go into someone else’s body, thinking about transfusions, before drawing blood. The nurse will draw blood and test the components of the blood, including blood type, SUB (blood group subtype: blood type is determined by the types of antigens on the membrane of red blood cells and a test to see if the number of antigens is lower than normal), and ARS (anti-rhesus antibodies: A test that looks for the presence of non-idiotypic antibodies (irregular antibodies) to blood group antigens), hepatitis B virus antigen, hepatitis C virus antibody test, HTLV antibodies (HTLV is a T-lymphotropic virus that infects T-lymphocytes and causes diseases such as neurological disorders and leukemia decades later), syphilis antibodies, ALT (liver function tests), total protein (protein plays an important role in your body and is an indicator of your overall health), and nucleic acid amplification tests (which isolate and amplify nucleic acids directly from viruses in your blood to determine if you are infected). The third step is the actual drawing of blood. Donors have the option of donating whole blood or component blood. After a nurse sticks a needle into a vein and draws blood for a blood test, the blood flows through the needle and through a rubber tube into a collection pack, during which the donor is asked to clench and unclench his or her fist to increase blood pressure in the arm to help the blood draw faster. The donation time for whole blood is 4 to 15 minutes, while the donation time for component blood is 30 minutes or 2 hours. Finally, there is a resting phase. Once the donation is over, the donor rests at the donation site for about 10 minutes to prevent dizziness and fainting, which can occur if the donor moves immediately after the hemostasis. After the donation is complete, the donor will be offered drinks and refreshments by the donor organization to help restore blood volume, blood sugar, and other nutrients. The recovery time for each of these components is estimated for whole blood: plasma volume is restored in about a day, but red blood cells take three to five weeks to return to the circulation, depending on the bone marrow, and lost iron takes six to eight weeks to be restored. Ultimately, donors don’t regain as much iron as they gave in whole blood until 8 to 12 weeks after donating, and can donate again for about two months for whole blood and two weeks for component donations.
There are two types of blood donations: whole blood and component blood. A whole blood donation is when all the components of the blood (red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets) are collected (about 320 mL or 400 mL). It’s the quickest and simplest of all blood donations because it’s taken straight from your veins. However, with simplicity comes a long recovery period. Next up is component blood donation. A component blood donation is a blood donation in which only selected components of the blood are collected. There are platelet, plasma, and platelet-plasma donations. They are all blood donations in which only certain components are collected through apheresis machines and the remaining components are returned to the donor. A platelet donation involves the collection of approximately 250 mL, a plasma donation involves the collection of approximately 500 mL, and a platelet-plasma donation involves the collection of approximately 250 mL of platelets and 300 mL of plasma. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes for plasma and about 1 to 1.5 hours for platelets and platelet-plasma.
To highlight the importance of blood donation, let’s look at some interesting statistics: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 118.4 million units of blood are needed every day, which means that about 40,000 blood donors are needed. Donating blood is more than just saving an individual’s life; it’s essential in a variety of situations, including emergencies, childbirth, and surgery. In particular, donating blood can be crucial in saving a patient’s life in an accidental emergency. It’s also very helpful for cancer patients and those with blood disorders who need blood transfusions. Because of this importance, awareness and participation in blood donation is crucial.
So far, you’ve learned about the history of blood donation, the process and types of blood donations, and you’ve received your blood donation certificate. This certificate helps you get reimbursed for the cost of blood transfusions at healthcare facilities. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for hospitals to run out of blood when performing surgery. Depending on the type of blood donation, it takes a little bit of time, but it’s worth it to save someone’s life.
