True Blood: A blood drive and important information about donating
Blood is an integral part of the human body. So why should you donate something that’s important to you?
What is blood?Blood is made of 2 important components: Cellular components and plasma. The cellular components consist of red blood cells (carry oxygen to your cells), white blood cells (fight diseases and infections) and platelets (help blood to clot so that you don’t bleed excessively). Plasma contains all nutrients like glucose, salt and proteins. Blood as a whole is an important transport system in your body that transfers everything around at all times of the day
Why give blood?
1 in 10 people who enter a hospital require blood. You might think that the most common reason blood is needed is because of some emergency situation like an accident, however cancer, heart diseases and gastrointestinal bleeding also require blood transfusion. Premature babies also require blood transfusions.
In your body there can be around 14-18pints of blood. When you donate, you draw nearly one pint of blood. After donating your body replaces the lost blood in 4 weeks.
In the U.S. alone 4.8 million people require blood every year, thats 132000 people a day. One pint of blood can save up to three lives. If everyone in the U.S. donated blood, the world wouldn’t have any shortages of blood for the foreseeable future. Blood shortages would be a very rare event.
Why shouldn’t I charge for it? Some people pay me to donate!
Would you like if you were rushed into a hospital with multiple wounds in dire need of blood and someone comes up to you with a bill requiring payment for the blood needed?
The Process
There are 5 key stages in donating blood:
- Registration and key information about the process
- History - Basic medical history
- Hydrate and prepare - drink some water and await your turn
- Donation - The most important process takes only 15 minutes!
- Revitalize and refresh - have a snack and rehydrate. Rest for a few minutes and leave
The whole process takes anywhere from 45minutes to 1 hour. The procedures are 100% safe and all measures are taken to make sure the process is as smooth as possible
Thats it!
Who can donate?
There are 3 parameters a donor should meet to be eligible to donate blood:
- The donor has to be between the ages of 18 and 55.
- The donor has to weigh a minimum of 50kg.
- The donor, at any point in his/her life, should not have had Hepatitis.
Okay! I want to donate. But where?
You’re in luck on the 15th of January The Interact Club of Asian International School, Colombo, Sri Lanka is having a blood drive at the school premises from 9.30AM onwards.
Asian International School
4/97 Thalakotuwa Gardens Colombo 05
Sri Lanka
RSVP here and invite your friends!
Bring your whole family, friends and workers! Anyone is welcome as long as they meet the above mentioned criteria.
Unfortunately there is no guarantee that your blood will be accepted, as rejection rates are high (due to various reasons like low haemoglobin levels or low blood counts) and proximately only 37% of the current Sri Lankan population can donate.
One hour of your time can save a life!
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