Did you know every two seconds someone in the US needs a blood transfusion? Even though you may not be thinking about donating blood, blood is needed every day by patients facing medical adversity. Bishop Kelly is hosting another blood drive with the Red Cross of Idaho in the Upper Carley Center, Thursday January 12th and is looking for students to be generous donors.
The most often asked question is if you are eligible to donate blood. However, there are a few requirements to whether or not you are a good candidate for donating. You must weigh at least 110 lbs, be 5’ 4” tall, and be 16 years old with parental consent. You should be in good health and feeling within normal iron levels. It is also asked that if you are currently playing a sport you refrain from signing up. Lastly, if you have donated blood in the last 56 days you are not eligible, but if the last time you donated was through the Bishop Kelly drive, you are in the clear.
If you are 16 years old, fill these requirements and have a signed permission slip by guardians, which will be sent out to you a week before the drive once you sign up, you may be eligible to donate at the drive. You must fill out the google sheet available in the Schoology announcements and will then be considered to participate. There are only 45 spots available and it is first come first serve. BKs Red Cross club will communicate with you whether or not you received a spot.
You may also want to know the process and what to expect when donating blood. First, you will have to go through some paperwork. Red cross staff will then do a mini physical on you including measuring your pulse, blood pressure and hemoglobin levels. When you go to get the actual blood draw they will take about a pint of blood, and a few extra vials for testing, which will take 8 to 10 minutes. Contrary to popular belief, you are not permanently losing blood, as your body naturally replenishes blood every day.
The behind the scenes work consists of transporting your blood on ice to one of 200 Red Cross processing centers, where it will then be scanned and loaded into a computer database. The package of blood will then be spun into a centerfusion, a device that allows the blood to be separated into 3 components; red cells, platelets, and plasma. The test tubes that were drawn from your blood will be in the process of testing for infectious diseases and determining your blood type at a laboratory during this time, where the results will be transferred to the processing center. Once your blood is cleared for use it will be stored differently for different lengths of time depending on the component. Your plasma can be stored in a freezer for up to a year, whereas your platelets will be usable for only 5 days, and rest on a machine that is in constant motion to prevent the platelets from clumping together. Then it can be transferred to a hospital 24/7 for use.
There are also a few different types of blood donations. Regular donations is just the donation of red blood cells, white blood cells, and your plasma. Whereas power red donations are the donations of your red blood cells. Usually for power red donations it is requested to be a larger male (18+). With a power donation you can safely donate two units of red blood cells during your time at the drive. Since O- is the universal blood donation type, that’s the type of blood that is most needed, but the red cross will happily accept any type of blood.
Your time and the blood donated goes a long way. As someone who has personally had blood transfusions before, it’s truly appreciated by doctors and recipients nationwide.
To learn more visit these links:
https://www.redcrossblood.org/
The Bishop Kelly Newspaper 