blood donation guidelines

7/28/2019 BLOOD DONATION GUIDELINES

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What is blood? How much blood does aperson have?

Blood is the red coloured fluid flowing continuously in our body'scirculatory system. About 1/12th of the body weight of a healthy

individual is blood. On an average there are about 5 - 6 litres ofblood present.


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What is the composition of blood?

Blood contains mainly a fluid called plasma in which aresuspended cellular elements. Three types of cells - Red BloodCells or RBC's, White Blood Cells or WBC's and tiny plateletsform the cellular element.


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What are the functions of these components?

(a) Plasma: acts as a vehicle to carry many substances likeglucose, fats, and proteins, enzymes, and hormones etc., inaddition to the blood cells.(b) Red Cells: carry oxygen from lungs to various bodytissues and take back carbon dioxide from the cells andtissues to be thrown out of body in the form of exhaled air.(c) White cells: mainly act as body scavengers and guards.They help in the immune system of the body and act asdefence forces of the body killing the bacteria or any otherorganisms entering the body.(d) Platelets: help in the clotting and coagulation of blood.

We have experienced in our life that whenever we get injuredthe bleeding stops after a few minutes. This is brought aboutby a mechanism called clotting of blood in which plateletsplays a very vital role.


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How is blood formed?

Blood consists of RBCs, WBCs, platelets suspended in plasma. In earlyembryonic life blood cells are formed in liver and spleen. But by thefifth month the Haemopoisis (i.e., formation of blood.) occurs in bonemarrow and lymphatic tissues. At birth the entire bone marrow is redand active. Gradually as the child grows, the marrow remains red only

in the flat bones and vertebrae. The RBC, grannulocytes of WBC andplatelets are produced mainly by bone marrow. The lymphocytes,monocytes, plasma cells are formed in the lymphoid and ReticuloEndothelial tissues. The orderly proliferation of the cells in the bonemarrow and their release into circulation is carefully regulatedaccording to the needs of body. Every day, new blood cells are being

produced in the bone marrow and every day old cells are dying andbeing removed from the body. Red blood cells have a life of 120 daysand when it becomes old and senile it is thrown out. White cells livefor a few days and platelets for a few hours. Thus daily new cells areadded to the circulation and old are removed from it.


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What is haemoglobin?

Haemoglobin is a substance present in the red cells. Itis helpful in carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide. On an

average, in a healthy male it should be between 14 -16 gm % and in a female it should be about 12 - 14 gm%. This is also being daily synthesized and the new isreplacing the old stock.


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What are blood groups?

Every individual has two types of blood groups. The first iscalled the ABO - grouping and the second type is called Rh -grouping.In the ABO - group there are four categories namely A Group,B Group, O Group and AB Group.

In the Rh - Group either the individual is Rh-positive, or Rh-negative. Rh is a factor called as Rhesus factor that has cometo us from Rhesus monkeys.Thus each and very human being will fall in one of thefollowing groups.A positive or A negative

B positive or B negativeO positive or O negativeAB positive or AB negativeThere are also some sub groups as well as a few otherclassifications.


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What is the importance of knowing the bloodgroups?

For all practical and routine purposes, it is ideal totransfuse to the patient the same group of blood which he

belongs to. It is only under very dire emergency that wetake O group as universal donor and AB groups asuniversal recipient. Under no circumstances O group canget any other blood except O. Similarly A group patientcannot be given B group blood and vice versa.


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Why the Patient of 'A' Group blood is notallowed to receive 'B' Group blood?

This is due to the reason that, the blood of A Group peoplecontains anti - B antibodies. In B group people there are anti

- An antibodies. If we give A group blood to a B grouppatient, it is bound to be incompatible and will result inserious consequences.


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Why are Rh negative and Rh positiveincompatible?

A patient with Rh-negative blood cannot be given Rh-positiveblood as the antigen-antibody REACTIONS WILL RESULT INSEVERE consequences.In cases where a woman has Rh negative and her husband

has Rh positive, the first child with Rh positive may benormal. But subsequently the woman may not conceive ormay have repeated abortions. There may be intra uterine fetaldeath. If the child born is alive, it will suffer from a fataldisease called "Erythroblastosis Foetalis". Now mothers canbe given an injection of anti-D within 24 hours of the delivery

of a Rh-positive child and thus protect the next baby fromthis catastrophe.


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What is a unit of blood?

Blood is collected in plastic bags which contain a watery fluidwhich prevents blood from getting coagulated. On an average wedraw about 450 ml. of blood from a person, depending on theweight of the donor. This blood, plus the amount of anti coagulant

present in the bottle or bag, is known as one unit of blood.


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Can blood of animals be transfused tohuman beings?

Scientists have tried a lot but so far they are notsuccessful. Only the blood of a human being can betransfused to a human patient.


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How long can blood be stored?

Whole blood can be stored up to 35 days, when kept inCPDA anti coagulant solution and refrigerated at 2 - 4deg C. But the demand is so great that blood hardly everremains in storage for so long and is used much before

expiry.


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Can we separate blood into its components?

Yes! Now with technical advancements, we can make components of blood

and store them. For example, plasma can be separated from whole bloodand stored up to one year in frozen state at -80 deg C temperature orbelow. This is called Fresh Frozen Plasma. Similarly there are othercomponents like Platelet Rich Plasma; Platelet Concentrate (can be stored asa life saving measure upto 5 days now at 22- 24 degrees C in a plateletincubator and agitator); Cryoprecipitate (which is very useful in treating

bleeding disorders due to the deficiency of factor VIII and IX); Factor VIII andIX; Albumin, Globulin and many others.In most progressive blood banks more than 85 % of the blood collected isconverted into components and stored. This is because many patients donot require whole blood. For example, a patient whose haemoglobin is lowand is therefore anemic, may just require Packed Cells i.e. only red cells; apatient with burns may need more of plasma than cells; a patient withhemophilia may require only Factor VIII.Now with the advent of Cell-separators we can directly draw a particularcomponent from the donor, while rest of the blood constituents go back tothe donor.


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In which situations do patients need bloodtransfusion?

There are many situations in which patients need blood to stayalive: A patient needs blood after a major accident in which there isloss of blood. No major surgery is performed without blood as there is bound

to be blood loss. On an average, for every open heart surgery about 6 units ofblood is required. In miscarriage or childbirth cases the patient may need largeamount of blood to be transfused for saving her life and also thechild's.

For patients with blood diseases like severe Anaemias especiallyAplastic Anaemias, Leucaemias (blood cancer), Haemophilia(bleeding disorder), Thalassemia etc. repeated blood transfusionsare the only solution. In many other situations like poisoning, drug reactions, shock,burns, blood transfusion is the only way to save precious human

life


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What happens to patients in transfusions withincompatible blood (mismatched blood)?

The following symptoms may occur after only a few ml. of blood havebeen given: 1. Patient complains of shivering, restlessness, nausea, andvomiting. There is precardial and lumbar pain.2. Cold, clammy skin with cyanosis.3. Pulse rate increases, respiratory rate increases. Temperature increases

to 38 to 40 deg C. [101 to 105 F].4. Blood pressure falls and patient passes into a state of shock.5. Haemoglobinaemia, haemoglobinurea (urine turns red); oliguria (urinebecomes scanty or the urinary output is reduced) and anuria (total outputof urine becomes 200 ml. a day)6. Jaundice appears after a few hours and in some cases anuria persists

and uremia develops. This may lead to death.


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In which situations do people generallydonate blood?

There are three types of blood donors: -(1) PROFESSIONAL DONORS - They sell their blood, which is of verypoor quality and can transmit very dangerous diseases to therecipient. It is illegal to take blood from any professional donor.(2) REPLACEMENT DONATION - Healthy relatives and friends of thepatient give their blood, of any group, to the blood bank. In

exchange, the required number of units in the required blood groupis given.3) VOLUNTARY DONATION- Here a donor donates blood voluntarily.The blood can be used for any patient even without divulging theidentity of the donor. This is the best type of blood donation where amotivated human being gives blood in an act of selfless service.


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Who is a healthy donor?

Any person within the age group of 18 - 55 years with a bodyweight as minimum 45 kgs, and having haemoglobin content asminimum 12.5 gm%.


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Does a donor need to do anythingspecial before donation?

The donor should eat at regular mealtimes anddrink plenty of fluids.


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How long does the donation take?

The procedure is done by skilled, specially trained technicians andtakes three to eight minutes. However, from start to finish (fillingform, post donation rest etc) the entire process should takeupwards of 35 minutes.


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Does the needle hurt the entire time?

There may be a little sting when the needle is inserted,but there should be no pain during the donation.


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Does the donor suffer from anyharmful effects after donating blooddonation?

Absolutely not, rather a donor after having givenblood voluntarily gets a feeling of great pleasure,peace and bliss. Soon, within a period of 24 - 48hours, the same amount of new blood gets formed inthe body, which helps the donor in many ways. Hisown body resistance improves, the circulation

improves, and he himself feels healthier than before


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Does a donor need to rest afterdonating blood?

Yes. The donor needs rest, preferably lying down, so thatthe amount of blood that has been donated soon getspoured into the circulation from the body pools in a

natural way. The donor should take it easy for about 15 -20 minutes.


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Can a donor work after donatingblood?

Of course! Routine work is absolutely fine after theinitial rest. Rigorous physical work should be

avoided for a few hours.


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What special diet should a donor follow after giving blood?

After resting for a while a donor is given some liquid (fluid) to take. Itmay be a cup of coffee or milk or fruits juice alongwith a few biscuits orfruit. The donor needs no other special diet. A routine balanced diet isadequate. The donor's blood gets replenished within 24 - 48 hours.


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How long will it take for the body toreplenish the blood?

The body replaces blood volume or plasma within24 hours. Red cells need about four to eight weeksfor complete replacement.


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How frequently a donor can donate blood?

Three months time between donations

is a very safe interval.


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Do any diseases debar a donor from givingblood?

Yes, if the donor has suffered from any of the under-mentioneddiseases: -Fever: He should not have suffered from fever for the past 15 days.

Jaundice: A donor should not have his blood tested positive forAUSTRALIA ANTIGEN.Blood transmitted diseases: Like Syphilis, Malaria, Filaria etc. debara donor from donating blood till he is treated and is free fromthem.Drugs: If a donor is taking drugs like Aspirin, anti-hypertensive,anti-diabetics, hormones, corticosteroids etc., he is unfit to donateblood.AIDS. No person having HIV positive can be allowed to donateblood.


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Are there any other benefits of blooddonation?

Yes, blood donation is a noble, selfless service! It gives thedonor a feeling of joy and contentment. Also this is anexpression of love for Mankind, as blood knows no caste,

colour, creed, religion or race, country, continent or sex.


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