blood transfusion and its moral implications,

BLOOD TRANSFUSION AND ITS MORAL IMPLICATIONS

What is Blood Transfusion?

A blood transfusion is a safe, common procedure in which you receive blood through an intravenous (IV) line inserted into one of your blood vessels.

Blood transfusions are used to replace blood lost during surgery or a serious injury. A transfusion also might be done if your body can't make blood properly because of an illness.

During a blood transfusion, a small needle is used to insert an IV line into one of your blood vessels. Through this line, you receive healthy blood. The procedure usually takes 1 to 4 hours, depending on how much blood you need.

Blood transfusions are very common. Each year, almost 5 million Americans need a blood transfusion. Most blood transfusions go well. Mild complications can occur. Very rarely, serious problems develop.

Some procedures on Blood Transfusions

Equipment and Supplies All blood components must be

filtered during administration.



filtered during administration. A blood component administration set

containing an in-line blood filter is recommended. Either a "Y-Type" administration set or a single line set may be used.



filtered during administration. A blood component administration set

containing an in-line blood filter is recommended. Either a "Y-Type" administration set or a single line set may be used.

An add-on filter, such as a leukocyte reduction filter, may be used when the component was not leukocyte-reduced by the blood supplier.


Equipment and Supplies All blood components must be filtered during

administration. A blood component administration set containing an in-

line blood filter is recommended. Either a "Y-Type" administration set or a single line set may be used.

An add-on filter, such as a leukocyte reduction filter, may be used when the component was not leukocyte-reduced by the blood supplier.

Because of the large number of filters available, the instructions for use on the package or on the product insert should be read to determine priming instructions and the maximum number of units that may be administered using the filter.

Post Transfusion Instructions to the Patient

Outpatients or patients who will be leaving the hospital within one week of transfusion should be given written instructions regarding delayed transfusion reactions.

Post Transfusion Instructions to the Patient

Outpatients or patients who will be leaving the hospital within one week of transfusion should be given written instructions regarding delayed transfusion reactions.

The patient handout "Post-Transfusion Instructions for the Patient" may be used for this purpose.

Transport of Blood Components

Blood may be obtained by one of the following methods:



pneumatic tube



pneumatic tube

unit personnel picking up at the Blood Bank window Room 2F225 University Hospital



pneumatic tube

unit personnel picking up at the Blood Bank window Room 2F225 University Hospital

transport of blood components using phlebotomy service when the blood order is large or the pneumatic tube system cannot be used.

Important Information About Blood

The heart pumps blood through a network of arteries and veins in the body. Blood has many vital jobs. For example, it carries oxygen and other nutrients to your body's organs and tissues. Having a healthy supply of blood is important for your overall health.

Blood is made up of various parts, including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets (PLATE-lets), and plasma. Blood is transfused either as whole blood (with all its parts) or, more often, as individual parts.

Blood types

Every person has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person's blood is either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if you have type A blood, it's either A positive or A negative.

The blood used in a transfusion must work with your blood type. If it doesn't, antibodies (proteins) in your blood attack the new blood and make you sick.

Type O blood is safe for almost everyone. About 40 percent of the population has type O blood. People who have this blood type are called universal donors. Type O blood is used for emergencies when there's no time to test a person's blood type.

People who have type AB blood are called universal recipients. This means they can get any type of blood.

If you have Rh-positive blood, you can get Rh-positive or Rh-negative blood. But if you have Rh-negative blood, you should only get Rh-negative blood. Rh-negative blood is used for emergencies when there's no time to test a person's Rh type.

Blood Banks Blood banks collect, test, and store blood. They carefully screen all donated

blood for infectious agents (such as viruses) or other factors that could make you sick.

Blood banks also screen each blood donation to find out whether it's type A, B, AB, or O and whether it's Rh-positive or Rh-negative. You can get very sick if you receive a blood type that doesn't work with your own blood type. Thus, blood banks carefully test donated blood.

To prepare blood for a transfusion, some blood banks remove white blood cells. This process is called white cell or leukocyte (LU-ko-site) reduction. Although rare, some people are allergic to white blood cells in donated blood. Removing these cells makes allergic reactions less likely.

Not all transfusions use blood donated from a stranger. If you're going to have surgery, you may need a blood transfusion because of blood loss during the operation. If it's surgery that you're able to schedule months in advance, your doctor may ask whether you would like to use your own blood, rather than donated blood.

If you choose to use your own blood, you will need to have blood drawn one or more times prior to the surgery. A blood bank will store your blood for your use.

Alternative to Blood Transfusions

Researchers are trying to find ways to make blood. Currently, no man-made alternative to human blood exists. However, researchers have developed medicines that may help do the job of some blood parts.

For example, some people who have kidney problems take a medicine called erythropoietin. This medicine helps their bodies make more red blood cells. As a result, they may need fewer blood transfusions.

Surgeons try to reduce the amount of blood lost during surgery so that fewer patients need blood transfusions. Sometimes they can collect and reuse the blood for the patient.

Types of Blood Transfusions

Blood is transfused either as whole blood (with all its parts) or, more often, as individual parts. The type of blood transfusion you need depends on your situation.

For example, if you have an illness that stops your body from properly making part of your blood, you may need only that part to treat the illness.

Red Blood Cell Transfusion

Red blood cells are the most commonly transfused part of the blood. These cells carry oxygen from the lungs to your body's organs and tissues. Red blood cells also help your body get rid of carbon dioxide and other waste products.

You may need a transfusion of red blood cells if you've lost blood due to surgery or an injury. You also may need this type of transfusion if you have severe anemia (uh-NEE-me-uh) due to a disease or blood loss.

Anemia is a condition in which your blood has a lower than normal number of red blood cells. Anemia also can occur if your red blood cells don't have enough hemoglobin (HEE-muh-glow-bin).

Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that gives blood its red color. This protein carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Platelet and Clotting Factor Transfusions

Platelets and clotting factors help stop bleeding, including internal bleeding that you can't see. Some illnesses can prevent your body from making enough platelets or clotting factors. If you have one of these illnesses, you might need regular platelet or clotting factor transfusions to stay healthy.

For example, if you have hemophilia (heem-o-FILL-ee-ah), you may need a special clotting factor to replace the clotting factor you're lacking. Hemophilia is a rare, inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood doesn't clot normally.

If you have hemophilia, you may bleed for a longer time than others after an injury or accident. You also may bleed internally, especially in the joints (knees, ankles, and elbows).

Plasma Transfusion

Plasma is the liquid part of your blood. It's mainly water, but it also contains proteins, clotting factors, hormones, vitamins, cholesterol, sugar, sodium, potassium, calcium, and more.

If you have been badly burned or have liver failure or a severe infection, you may need a plasma transfusion.

Who Needs Blood Transfusion?

Blood transfusions are very common. Each year, almost 5 million Americans need blood transfusions. The procedure is used for people of all ages.

Some people who have surgery need blood transfusions because they lose blood during their operations. People who have serious injuries—for example, from car crashes, war, or natural disasters—also may need blood transfusions to replace blood lost during the injury.

Some people need blood or blood parts because of illnesses. For example, blood transfusions might be used to treat:

A severe infection or liver disease that stops your body from properly making blood or some blood parts.

An illness that causes anemia, such as kidney disease or cancer. Radiation treatment and some medicines also can cause anemia. There are many types of anemia, including aplastic, Fanconi, hemolytic, iron-deficiency, and sickle cell anemias and thalassemia (thal-ah-SE-me-ah).

A bleeding disorder, such as hemophilia or trombocytopenia (THROM-bo-si-to-PE-ne-ah).

Religious Views

Catholic

Religious Views

Catholic

Islam

Religious Views

Catholic

Islam

Jehovah’s witness

Catholicism You are confusing Catholicism with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s

Witnesses belong to a non-Christian sect (non-Christian in that they deny the divinity of Christ as one of the tree persons in the trinity) who regard blood transfusions as against scripture. The Roman Catholic Church, and all mainstream Christian denominations (like Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists etc) allow blood transfusion .

Since the Bible does not explicitly say, a decision of this nature can only be made between a person and God. One consideration might be that God created billions of people over the centuries, but only four blood types, making it possible to transfuse blood from one person to another, regardless of race or nationality. Perhaps this is an argument for the legitimacy of blood transfusions. A person should carefully and prayerfully consider what God would have them to do in regards to receiving / giving a blood transfusion. There is no command either way in Scripture. Blood transfusions are therefore a matter of conscience.

Islam

Contemporary Muslim jurists unanimously agree that blood transfusion for medical purposes is permissible. A Muslim is allowed to receive and donate blood for medical reasons. In Muslim countries it is very common nowadays to find that religious scholars and Imams are asked to urge people to make blood donations to hospitals for public welfare. These matters are related to human life. Islam teaches us to feed the hungry, to take care of the sick and to save people's lives.

However, as Sheikh Ibrahim Desai states, the permissibility of blood donation or blood transfusion is determined by the following conditions:

a) The donor should donate his blood willingly. If he is compelled to do so, then it is not permissible;



b) There is no danger to his (the donor's) life or health;




c) It must be clarified by the doctor that blood transfusion is necessary otherwise the life of the patient will be at stake; i.e. the recovery can not be possible without blood transfusion.




c) It must be clarified by the doctor that blood transfusion is necessary otherwise the life of the patient will be at stake; i.e. the recovery can not be possible without blood transfusion.

d) It is not permissible to sell one's blood or to pay the blood donor. However, if one is desperate for blood (to save his life) and the only means to obtain it is to purchase it, then it is permissible to pay for the blood. [In this case, it is only the one who asks for the money that will incur the sin].

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits ingesting Blood and that Christians should therefore not accept blood transfusion or donate or store their own blood for transfusion. The belief is based on an interpretation of scripture that differs from that of mainstream Christian denominations. It is one of the doctrines for which Jehovah's Witnesses are most well known.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_transfusion

Why do Jehovah’s Witness oppose?

Myth: Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in medicine or medical treatment.

Why do Jehovah’s Witness oppose?

Myth: Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in medicine or medical treatment.

Fact: We seek the best possible medical care for ourselves and our families. When we have health problems, we go to doctors who have skill in providing medical and surgical care without blood. We appreciate advancements that have been made in the medical field. In fact, bloodless treatments developed to help Witness patients are now being used to benefit all in the community. In many countries, any patient can now choose to avoid blood-transfusion risks, such as blood-borne diseases, immune-system reactions, and human errors.

Myth: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that faith will heal a person’s ailments.


Fact: We do not practice faith healing.



Myth: Avoiding blood transfusions is very costly.




Fact: Medical treatments that avoid blood transfusions are cost-effective.





Myth: Many Witnesses, including children, die each year as a result of refusing blood transfusions.





Myth: Many Witnesses, including children, die each year as a result of refusing blood transfusions.

Fact: This statement is totally unfounded. Surgeons regularly perform such complex procedures as heart operations, orthopedic surgery, and organ transplants without the use of blood transfusions. Patients, including children, who do not receive transfusions usually fare as well as or better than those who do accept transfusions. In any case, no one can say for certain that a patient will die because of refusing blood or will live because of accepting it.

Reasons of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

This is a religious issue rather than a medical one. Both the Old and New Testaments clearly command us to abstain from blood.



Genesis 9:4 -



Genesis 9:4 -Only flesh with its life—its blood—you must not eat.




Leviticus 17:10




Leviticus 17:10 - “‘If any man of the house of Israel or any foreigner who is residing in your midst eats any sort of blood, I will certainly set my face against the one- who is eating the blood, and I will cut him off- from among his people.

Deuteronomy 12:23

Deuteronomy 12:23- Just be firmly resolved not to eat the blood,- because the blood is the life,-- and you must not eat the life- with the flesh.


Acts 15:28-29 -


Acts 15:28-29 - For the holy spirit- and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you except these necessary things: to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols,- from blood,- from what is strangled,-- and from sexual immorality.-- If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you!”-



Leviticus 17:14 -



Leviticus 17:14 - For the life- of every sort of flesh is its blood, because the life-is in it. Consequently, I said to the Israelites: “You must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh because the life- of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.”-

blood transfusion and its moral implications,

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