- Although an estimated 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, less than 10% actually do each year.
- Blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors.
- Type O-negative blood (red cells) can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great demand and often in short supply.
OK, I'm not giving up my day job to become a comedy writer. Donating blood isn't a natural subject for a comedy sketch.
Reality check: I'm not sure why I give blood. I have since I was 17 and in high school. It was the second time that I donated that sealed it. A Red Cross staff member took 30 seconds to tell me a fact that changed how I viewed the act. I don't know the exact words, but I paraphrase:
"Gail, we're collecting your blood today in what we call a quad-bag. You have O-negative blood, and we need that for preemie babies. Those little bags can be separated for blood transfusions for babies born too early, to save their lives."
Any discomfort, any frustration I had because I had to wait, anything else immediately left my mind. That staff member took the moment to put a tiny human face on what I just did, and made it personal. I was hooked. I donated in college. As a young adult through 15 years of reporting. And then I left the newspaper business and was looking for a meaningful full-time job.
One little ad in the newspaper. Community relations representative for United Blood Services. Oh, one more piece of information -- by that time, I had an 11-year-old son. A son who wouldn't be there except for a blood transfusion he had in the first days of his life. Preemie babies have a lot of blood tests, and he needed blood. Yes, that comment to me as a high school student came full circle in my adult years. And it had been a stranger who saved my son's life -- you don't get to give blood days after childbirth!
Blood drives were my life for more than three years. I established dozens of new drives, talked to groups and businesses, worked with community leaders and the media, and recruited new donors. I made cookies, cut up fruit, whatever it took to get people in the door. And I was able to donate every 56 days like clockwork.
From United Blood Services to Red Cross. I became a blood drive coordinator. And I'm still a regular -- although not that regular.
I discovered double red cell donations. Instead of giving a pint of whole blood, I could give two units of red cells, and get back my plasma and platelets. O-negative plasma and platelets, no big deal. But O-negative red cells? Critical stuff. Only 6 percent of the population has type O-negative. But it's the universal blood type that any person can use. So in an emergency, when there's no time to "type and cross-match," the medical staff grabs units of O-negative and transfuses. No questions asked.
Two units from one donor? All the better.
I donate blood because it saves lives. True statement. How many people can say they've saved lives? I have no doubt I have.
No comments:
Post a Comment