June 14th: World Blood Donor Day

To the young and healthy it’s no loss. To the sick, it’s the hope of life. Donate Blood to give back life.

Happy World Blood Donor Day.

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The slogan for this year speaks for itself.

World Blood Donor Day

World Blood Donor Day (WBDD), held annually on June 14th, is one of the health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to acknowledge blood donors for their voluntary, life-sustaining gifts.

Donors and donations help and save millions of lives every year. The donated blood can help patients suffering from critical conditions and supports complex medical and surgical procedures. It also has a fundamental, revitalizing role in maternal and perinatal care.

Blood services face the challenge of making sufficient blood available while also ensuring its quality and safety due to the scarcity of blood. A sufficient supply can only be assured through regular donations by voluntary unpaid blood donors.

Just 1 donation can save up to 3 lives.

World Blood Donor Day Celebration

Blood, the gift of life, is the most valuable gift that anyone can give to another person. 

If we have blood below a certain level, we fall at the risk of losing our consciousness and possibly even worse. That is why organizations like the Red Cross Society organize blood donation campaigns now and then. Donating blood saves lives.

Today, most medical care depends on a constant supply of blood from donors, as one in seven people entering the hospital need blood.

All health care facilities need a sufficient amount of blood to meet the urgent need for patients facing critical conditions and other lifesaving methods, such as blood transfusions -which save millions of lives each year.  

However, To thank the voluntary unpaid blood donors and To aware people of the importance of healthy blood are the main reasons to celebrate this day.

Criteria For Donating Blood

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to donate whole blood, plasma or platelets, you must be:

• In good health.
• At least 16 or 17 years old, depending on the law in your state. Some states allow legal minors to donate with parent permission. While there’s no legal upper age limit, policies may vary between individual donor centers.
• At least 110 pounds (about 50 kilograms).
• Able to pass the physical and health-history assessments.
  • Have hemoglobin above 12 gm/dl
  • Have blood pressure 110-160 / 70-96 mmHg
  • Not to be pregnant, breastfeeding, and have at least 8 days since the start of the recent menstruation.
  • Not to had medical surgery for 2 years

Eligibility requirements differ slightly between different types of blood donation.

First Time Donor

As a first-time donor, we know how eager you are to save a life. So below we have collected information to make this process easy and safe for you. Because the health of both the donor and the receiver matters.

How to get ready

1. Get plenty of sleep the night before you plan to donate.
2. Eat a healthy meal before your donation.
3. Drink plenty of water before the donation.
4. Check to see if any medications you are taking or recently took would prevent you from donating.
5. Wear a shirt with sleeves that can be rolled up.

What to expect

Before the procedure

You will have to show your Identification Card for registration.

Before you can donate blood, you will be asked to fill out a confidential medical history that includes questions about behaviors known to carry a higher risk of bloodborne infections — infections that are transmitted through the blood.

Then, you will also have a brief physical exam, which includes checking your blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. A small sample of blood is taken from a finger prick and is used to check the oxygen-carrying component of your blood (hemoglobin level).
If your hemoglobin concentration is normal and you’ve met all the other screening requirements, you can donate blood.

During the procedure

You lie or sit in a reclining chair with your arm extended on an armrest. If you have a preference for which arm or vein is used, share it. A blood pressure cuff or tourniquet is placed around your upper arm to fill your veins with more blood.
This makes the veins easier to see and insert the needle into making the blood bag fill up more quickly. Then the skin on the inside of your elbow is cleaned.

A new, sterile needle is inserted into a vein in your arm. This needle is attached to a thin, plastic tube and a blood bag. Once the needle is in place, you tighten your fist several times to help the blood flow from the vein. Blood initially is collected into tubes for testing. When these have been collected, blood is allowed to fill the bag, about a pint (about half a liter).
The needle is usually in place for about 10 minutes. When complete, the needle is removed, a small bandage is placed on the needle site and a dressing is wrapped around your arm.

After the procedure

After donating, you sit in an observation area, where you rest and eat a light snack. After 15 minutes, you can leave.

• Drink extra fluids.
• Avoid strenuous physical activity or heavy lifting for about five hours.
• If you feel lightheaded, lie down with your feet up until the feeling passes.
• Keep your bandage on and dry for the next five hours.
• If you have bleeding after removing the bandage, put pressure on the site and raise your arm until the bleeding stops.
• If bruising occurs, apply a cold pack to the area periodically during the first 24 hours.
• Consider adding iron-rich foods to your diet to replace the iron lost with blood donation.

After The Blood Donation Process

Your blood will be tested to determine your blood type and your Rh factor. Blood type is classified as A, B, AB or O. The Rh factor refers to the presence or absence of a specific antigen — a substance capable of stimulating an immune response — in the blood. You’ll be classified as Rh positive or Rh negative, meaning you do or don’t carry the antigen. This information is important because your blood type and Rh factor must be compatible with the blood type and Rh factor of the person receiving your blood.

Your blood will also be tested for bloodborne diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV. If these tests are negative, the blood is distributed for use in hospitals and clinics. If any of these tests are positive, the donor center notifies you, and your blood is discarded.

Each blood donor saves the life of one or several with each pint of blood they donate.

For Regular Donor

• You can donate blood every 96 days. i.e every 3 months.
• Frequent donors and young donors should consult with their healthcare provider about taking multivitamins with 18 mg of iron.

You Are Ineligible To Donate Blood

Because of the risk of bloodborne infections, not everyone can donate blood. The following are a few high-risk groups that are not eligible to donate blood:

• Anyone who has used injected drugs, steroids, or another substance not prescribed by a doctor in the past three months
• Men who have had sexual contact with other men in the past three months
• Anyone who has a congenital coagulation factor deficiency
• Anyone who has had a positive test for the AIDS virus.
• Are a man who has had sex with another man in the past 3 months.
  (As of December 2016, the American Red Cross reports that MSM may be eligible to donate blood if they did not have sex with another man in more than 12 months.)
• Had a tattoo in the past 3 months or received a blood transfusion (except with your own blood) in the past 3 months.
• Have traveled in the past 3 months, or lived in the past three years, in an area where malaria is endemic.
• Anyone who has engaged in sex for money or drugs in the past three months
• Anyone who, in the past 12 months, has had close contact with — lived with or had sexual contact with — a person who has viral hepatitis
• Anyone who has had babesiosis, a rare and severe tick-borne disease, or the parasitic infection Chagas’ disease
• Anyone who has risk factors for the degenerative brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
• Anyone who spent three months or more in the United Kingdom from 1980 through 1996
• Anyone who received a blood transfusion in the United Kingdom or France from 1980 to the present
• Anyone who has spent time that adds up to five years or more in France or Ireland from 1980 to 2001

Locations For Blood Donation

The Red Cross Society organizes many blood donation campaigns all over Nepal. Along with the Red Cross Society, many other small health organizations organize these campaigns occasionally as well.
Moreover there are also few locations within the Kathmandu Valley where you can donate blood simply after registering and making an appointment.
Following is the table showing the days and locations as well as the opening times of said places. 

Donation Type and their requirements

To ensure the safety of both patients and donors, these are some of the requirements donors must meet to be eligible to donate blood based on their donation type.

Whole Blood Donation

• Donation frequency: Every 56 days.
• You must be in good health and feeling well.
• You must be at least 16 years old in most states.
• You must weigh at least 110 lbs.

Apheresis

During apheresis, you are hooked up to a machine that can collect and separate blood components, including red cells, plasma, and platelets, and return unused components back to you.

Power Red Donation

• Donation frequency: Every 112 days, up to 3 times/year
• You must be in good health and feeling well
• Male donors⁺ must be at least 17 years old in most states, at least 5’1″ tall, and weigh at least 130 lbs
• Female donors⁺ must be at least 19 years old, at least 5’5″ tall, and weigh at least 150 lbs

Platelet Donation

• Donation frequency: Every 7 days, up to 24 times/year
• You must be in good health and feeling well
• You must be at least 17 years old in most states 
• You must weigh at least 110 lbs

AB Elite Plasma Donation

• Donation frequency: Every 28 days, up to 13 times/year
• You must have type AB blood
• You must be in good health and feeling well
• You must be at least 17 years old
• You must weigh at least 110 lbs

Benefits of Blood Donation

• Stimulates Blood Cell Production
• Blood Donation helps to reduce risk of heart attack and cancer
• Donation of blood, burns calories & helps in weight loss
• Blood donation helps to maintain healthy liver
• Prevents Hemochromatosis and helps to maintain iron level
• By donating blood you can save someone’s life
• It helps you to complete your social responsibilities

Side-effects of Blood Donation

There aren’t any lasting side effects, but you may temporarily:

• Need to hydrate. Drink more non-alcoholic beverages for 24-48 hours after you donate blood.
• Need to take it easy. Don’t work out or do any hard physical activity for 24 hours after giving blood.
• Feel lightheaded. Lie down for a few minutes until you feel ready to get back up.
• Have a little bit of bleeding from the spot where you donated. Raise your arm and apply pressure to that spot for a few minutes.
• If you are bruising in that area, use an ice pack on it.

Final Thoughts

This day was established across the countries in 2004, to spread awareness for the need to donate blood and thank the blood donors for their selfless work. Moreover, you do not need only this day- June 14 to donate blood. This kind and noble act can be done any time of the year. Well, it must be done. So let’s cheers on those donors who save people and those receivers who continued living a happy life.

Hope everyone remains safe and healthy.

As always thank you for reading till the end and if you have any suggestions for us, do let us know in the comments section.

Recommended Links:

• Nepal Red Cross Society
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