Do Something Amazing- Give Blood

elantan

i tried giving blood once ...after my ordeal i recieved a letter saying thanks but really we aint that desperate dont do it again...well not that exactly but along those lines

catnap53

Hi to all potential blood donors.

Most answers can be found on the transfusion services website

www.blood.co.uk

Blood collection firstly needs to be safe for the donor (so they make sure that you are not anaemic before taking what you cannot spare, not like the money banks, and that you are not underweight).

All blood is tested for as many diseases as possible, but it relies on being able to find evidence in the blood itself which may not show up in the early stages. This is why it is safer to screen out donors who may be 'at risk' of having some diseases before hand. It really is a co-operation between donor and blood bank.

The reason for not being able to donate if there is a possibility that you have had a transfusion after 1980 is because of the very long incubation period of some diseases such as CJD or the variant that we knew as mad cow disease that started in the 1980s. The risk is very, very remote, but caution prevails.

I think most people would be surprised at the number of tests and processing that blood had to go through before it is issued to a hospital for use.

Before transfusing a patient, the hospital transfusion department then makes sure that it is the right blood group for each individual patient and that it is as safe as can be.

Blood centres and hospital blood banks are not staffed by doctors and nurses, but in the main by Biomedical Scientists who need to undergo very stringent education and training to be able to do their job, with qualifications to Master's level and above. They are registered like doctors and nurses and can be 'struck off' for malpractice or misconduct.

The blood banks and hospital transfusion departments are also more closely regulated and inspected more often than the general hospital itself. Any that cannot demonstrate that they have very safe procedures in place can be closed down on the day of inspection, and this could result in the hospital itself having to be closed if they have an emergency department, operating departments, maternity services etc.

Some departments have open days, so watch out for them and go along if you see them advertised. National Pathology Week is in November, and there is usually a Healthcare Science Week also in November, so there are some things being planned for then.

Sorry for the long post, but I felt it might help people to understand who does what and why not everyone is able to donate. They stopped taking mine when I started to take prescribed calcium supplements and I was upset at the time.

Freebyman

Strange question this, I am a regular blood donor but I have just had a blood test and it seems that I have anaemia! If Im taking iron tablets can I still give blood, Im Oneg so I feel that its my duty to give it.

Rikki

Freebyman wrote: »

Strange question this, I am a regular blood donor but I have just had a blood test and it seems that I have anaemia! If Im taking iron tablets can I still give blood, Im Oneg so I feel that its my duty to give it.

E-mail them and ask. They have this formthis form on their web site.

www.blood.co.uk The main site.

catnap53

Freebyman,

Obviously follow the advice given by Rikki and get the current professional opinion, but from my experience it should not automatically stop you donating in the future.

This happened to my daughter and as it was just a simple iron deficiency she was able to continue once the problem had been corrected and she had stopped taking the tablets.

If it were to keep happening it might be safer for you to stop.

From a family of O negs (all 5 of us) with the potential to benefit from your donation, Thanks

sillyvixen

with regards to not being able to give blood if you have been transfused - i thought it was due to the fact that blood is crossed matched to the closest available match, and while blood is split into a number of groups it still differes from person to person. if a person has recieved a transfusion it is a good match but not their own - so not an exact match - the patient will be well monitered while the blood is administered and if there are any problems the transfusion will be stopped, the patient will develop some antibodies to the blood they recieve - and while the crossmatching process seeks to keep the antibody development to a minimum it cant be compleatly stopped. the reason someone cant give blood after recieving a transfusion is that there is a risk that once their blood has some antibodies that could attack the blood cells of the paitient then recieving their blood. this is somthing that the blood transfusion service cant risk in a patient with decreased blood volume.

catnap53

There are rare occasions when donor antibodies not of the main blood group types can affect the patient. This can happen when plasma is transfused, but as far as I know the prime reason for not allowing donations after transfusion is the CJD risk, otherwise anyone who had ever had a transfusion could not give blood, not just those transfused since 1980.

While I check up some more info perhaps some might be interested in trying to do a virtual blood group and transfusion.

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Hope this link is allowed, sorry if it isn't!

Zzzzzz

mspig

As previously mentioned my DS has to have weekly gamma globulins(liquid blood) infused into him each week and from the information we have been given they screen for aids and hiv, Hep B Hep A is not transmitted through blood but the screen they have for Hep C is not 100% so he has to have a blood test every 3months to check Hep C.

Apparently according to the info there has been 3 significant outbreaks Hep C is Blood products.

They also state that they cannot guarentee that VCJD is not contained in the product, and cannot give a categorical assurance that they are completely safe until lab test become available for VCJD.

Hope this helps

MrsE_2

sillyvixen wrote: »

with regards to not being able to give blood if you have been transfused - i thought it was due to the fact that blood is crossed matched to the closest available match, and while blood is split into a number of groups it still differes from person to person. if a person has recieved a transfusion it is a good match but not their own - so not an exact match - the patient will be well monitered while the blood is administered and if there are any problems the transfusion will be stopped, the patient will develop some antibodies to the blood they recieve - and while the crossmatching process seeks to keep the antibody development to a minimum it cant be compleatly stopped. the reason someone cant give blood after recieving a transfusion is that there is a risk that once their blood has some antibodies that could attack the blood cells of the paitient then recieving their blood. this is somthing that the blood transfusion service cant risk in a patient with decreased blood volume.

Oh wow, you know your stuff:T :T :T :T :T

There was me thinking it was because of AIDS or Hepititis or something:o

MrsE_2

catnap53 wrote: »

There are rare occasions when donor antibodies not of the main blood group types can affect the patient. This can happen when plasma is transfused, but as far as I know the prime reason for not allowing donations after transfusion is the CJD risk, otherwise anyone who had ever had a transfusion could not give blood, not just those transfused since 1980.

While I check up some more info perhaps some might be interested in trying to do a virtual blood group and transfusion.

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Hope this link is allowed, sorry if it isn't!

Zzzzzz

So anyone who has had a transfusion since 1980 has some (however slight) risk of CJD or mad cow disease?