Skylark Blood Bank

Some Real Facts About Blood & Blood Donation

Its All About Life!!!

So it is here advisable to not only go thru the points but also share the information if you find it useful in any sense...Its not a review, the information is posted here for general awareness about Blood and Blood Donation and to make best use of MS for this social awareness...

Got some nice n useful information and decided to share at MS...

There is as such no substitute for human blood. Anyone with a good health above 17 or 18 years of age with normal health & weighs at least 110 pounds or around 50 KGs may donate blood with the interval of 56 days and after donating blood, you replace the donated red blood cells within 3 to 4 weeks. It takes eight weeks to restore the iron lost after donating. People should donate blood with a sense of duty & community spirit, not to make money. They should not paid for their blood donation.

Its a proven fact that millions of peoples would die every year without life saving blood transfusions and in every 3 seconds someone somewhere needs blood...1 out of every 10 people entering a hospital needs blood...

Now pointwise:

1. Just one pint of donated blood can help save as many as three people’s lives.

   
   




2. The average adult has 10 pints of blood in his/her body.

   
   




3. One unit of blood is roughly the equivalent of one pint.

   
   




4. Blood makes up about 7% of your body’s weight.

   
   




5. A newborn baby has about one cup of blood in his or her body.

   
   




6. The average red blood cell transfusion is 3.4 pints.

   
   




7. Blood fights against infection and helps heal wounds, keeping you healthy.

   
   




8. There are four main blood types: A, B, AB and O. AB is the universal recipient and O negative is the universal donor.

   
   




9. Blood centers often run short of type O and B blood.

   
   




10. Shortages of all types of blood occur during the summer and winter holidays.

    
    




11. If all blood donors gave 2 to 4 times a year, it would help prevent blood shortages.

    
    




12. If you began donating blood at age 17 or 18 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood.

    
    




13. About three gallons of blood supports the entire nation’s blood needs for one minute.

    
    




14. Blood donation takes four steps: medical history, quick physical, donation, and snacks.

    
    




15. The actual blood donation usually takes less than 10 minutes. The entire process, from when you sign in to the time you leave, takes about 45 minutes.

    
    




16. Giving blood will not decrease your strength.

    
    




17. You cannot get AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.

    
    




18. Fourteen tests, 11 of which are for infectious diseases, are performed on each unit of donated blood.

    
    




19. Any company, community organization, place of worship or individual may contact their local community blood center to host a blood drive.

    
    




20. Much of today’s medical care depends on a steady supply of blood from healthy donors.

    
    




21. One unit of blood can be separated into several components (red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, platelets and cryoprecipitate) .

    
    




22. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body’s organs and tissue.

    
    




23. There are about one billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood.

    
    




24. Red blood cells live about 120 days in the circulatory system.

    
    




25. Platelets help blood to clot and give those with leukemia and other cancers a chance to live.

    
    




26. Apheresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets.

    
    




27. Donated red blood cells must be used within 42 days of collection.

    
    




28. Donated platelets must be used within five days of collection.

    
    




29. Plasma is 90% water, constitutes 55% of blood volume, a pale yellow mixture of water, proteins & salts, can be frozen and used for up to a year.

    
    




30. People who have been in car accidents and suffered massive blood loss can need transfusions of 50 pints or more of red blood cells.

    
    




31. Children being treated for cancer, premature infants, and children having heart surgery need blood and platelets from donors of all types.

    
    




32. Anemic patients need blood transfusions to increase their iron levels.

    
    




33. White cells are the body’s primary defense against infection.

    
    

Hearty Thanks for reading these points...

Akash