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Fewer than 1 in 10 gives blood
Published Monday, January 5, 2009
When you are out shopping, walking in your neighborhood, or sitting in a theater before the film begins look around and it’s a good bet you’ll see some blood donors.
While they may not wear capes and tights, they are quiet superheroes who have saved the lives of people in our communities. They are the people you can count on if your friends, family members or coworkers ever need blood. January is Blood Donor Awareness Month, and we’d like to thank all those who gave in 2008 and to extend an invitation to them and others to do the same in 2009.
They are a select bunch who could certainly use some help. Currently, fewer than 1 in 10 Americans regularly gives blood, so this small group is challenged to keep up with the need. The organization America’s Blood Centers calculates that 38,000 units of blood are needed every day in the U.S. - that’s 1,583.3 units per hour, 26.3 units per minute, of every day. That need never sleeps and it never takes a holiday. And as America’s population continues to age, that need will be climbing.
There is no substitute for human blood. The only way we can assure that it will be on the hospital’s shelves when it is needed is for donors to step forward. That need is particularly strong during January; supplies are typically low coming out of the holidays just as patients return to hospitals. It’s also the season when severe weather in parts of the country and colds and flu prevents many regular donors from giving.
Our donors come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Many high school students now mark a 16th birthday by getting written permission from their parents and donating blood when the bloodmobile stops at their school. College students find that giving blood is one way they can give back to their community, even during tight economic times. And we have many senior citizens who have a long history of donating and continue to give.
We often ask our first-time donors why they decided to give blood. The most common answer is, “Somebody asked me.” As we begin Blood Donor Awareness Month, LifeSouth is encouraging you to please give. That decision could make a lifesaving difference for someone in need in our community.
– from staff reports
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Comments
Posted by uwmsop (anonymous) on January 5, 2009 at 10:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
As a pharmacist, I highly commend those that give blood. Anyone in a medical profession should be able to appreciate the value of this gift as should anyone that has ever had to use donated blood for themselves or a loved one. I have never donated blood though. I would love to, however if you are a gay male, your blood is not needed. Even though current disease statistics do not support the sterotype that gays are more likely to care blood borne diseases, the ban stays. If we are in such a crisis of avialable blood, why not allow all of those that can help to do so?
Posted by KatherineReece (anonymous) on January 5, 2009 at 11:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
uwmsop -- that doesn't make sense really. Don't they test all the blood for diseases? If they are going to make such distinctions then they shouldn't accept donations from African-American women as AIDS is the number one cause of death between the ages of 25-34. (See here: http://www.thebody.com/content/art46201....).
It's totally illogical.
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on January 6, 2009 at 7:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If I were in need of blood, I wouldn't want yours, uwmsop. I have had cancer, liver disease, and a liver transplant. I wouldn't want my blood either. I don't think your blood is tested prior to giving it, Katherine, so they have to have benchmarks in place in order to receive blood. That's why they ask you questions.
Posted by kwsrgraves (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Uwm, you play a different game, you play by different rules. I am not homophobic, I have two gay relatives. One HIV infected that has become AIDS. They are human also, but I don't want their blood. I guess if you really had a burning desire to give, they are not going to check body parts or an ID card to know if you are Amercian League. Again, if you CHOOSE a different lifestyle, you should expect to be treated different. If one chooses to be a missionary, live 100% in God's will, and truly show who they are, then they won't get their feelings hurt when not offered a free weekend in Vegas with comped drinks and a free prostitute. Or, when a lane through the city is designated HOV and you get a ticket for solo driving. Is it fair? No! That's life suck it up and deal with it. No pun intended. No offense either, if you take it the wrong way. Again, no pun intended.
Posted by KatherineReece (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dude ... but the blood is tested before its given to someone else... see here where it says that all blood is tested before being given to a patient.
http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/...
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on January 6, 2009 at 1:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I meant that your blood was not tested prior to "giving blood".
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on January 6, 2009 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
... and if it IS tested before giving to a patient, why do patients catch HIV, Hepatitis, and other blood-borne diseases through transfusions?
Posted by alwaysright (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 2:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
UWMSOP....if you want to give blood so bad- why not tell them you are straight? I mean- really... do they have Gaydar in those bloodmobiles now?
Posted by KatherineReece (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
TheDude... I haven't heard of any cases of anyone getting any of those diseases through transfusions in a long time.
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on January 6, 2009 at 3:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Then you haven't been listening ... it still happens.
Posted by KatherineReece (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 3:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm a news junkie and disabled so I'm almost always online surfing news sites. I've not seen anything about people getting HIV from a blood transfusion in a long long time. Here's an article on their process of screening out HIV.
http://aids.about.com/cs/hivtesting/f/bl...
It *could* still happen but the odds are very very low.
Posted by TheDude (Michael Wells) on January 6, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When I had my liver transplant in 2006, a fellow recipient had previously contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion. There are a lot of things that go on you won't read about in the news or on the internet, Katherine. It may not happen every day, but it does happen. It's nice that uwmsop wants to give blood, but as I said before, because of the situation, I wouldn't want it.
Posted by gkeys (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Blood from uwmsop is no more of a risk than blood from a lot of non-homosexual people any more. Risk factors for Hepatitis C include ANYONE with multiple sex partners; it doesn’t specifically say homosexuals with multiple sex partners. How many people are walking around right now that have had multiple sex partners? TONS! If they ask people before allowing them to donate blood if they had ever had multiple sex partners, there would be almost no person eligible to donate blood. If uwmsop had only ever had one sexual partner, I would say he is safer than half the population! Homosexuality has nothing to do with it.
Posted by November162000 (anonymous) on January 6, 2009 at 6:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When you buy a soft drink you can get it with or without sugar. Too bad it's not that way with blood.
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