Blood Donations
July 31, 2013
Super Simple and Easy Way to Save Lives Have you saved somebody’s life lately? Did you know that you can help three people who struggle to survive by giving an hour of your day? I wasn’t aware of how many people I can help until there was a blood drive at my high school. The blood drive was run by the ARUP Blood Services and I learned a ton about donating blood. Before you donate you can talk to a representative and learn more about donating blood. I learned that the blood donated can be stored for about 28 days until it goes bad. The phlebotomist told me blood donations are given to several patients who need transfusions to live. If there are many people donating it can be a long process, but it’s worth the wait until the end because they will provide you with a variety of snacks, treats and drinks. If you are a healthy candidate, you can donate one pint of your blood that can help three different people. A healthy donor can donate blood every 56 days. According the American Red Cross “If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives!” Think about it. The complex blood inside our bodies can be used for a number of people’s lives; you can help save them. You can be a hero to those in need by donating your blood.
We talk about donating blood, but people typically don’t know the fundamentals of blood. It’s important to understand blood and what it does. So, what is blood? It’s the red liquid that oozes out when you scrape your arm or leg. That’s what we see and that’s what people say. But if you take the time to study or learn about blood, you’ll see that there are four different components: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Each component has a different function. The red blood cells function is to carry blood and oxygen to other tissues and organs in the body. Red blood cells contain
Super Simple and Easy Way to Save Lives Have you saved somebody’s life lately? Did you know that you can help three people who struggle to survive by giving an hour of your day? I wasn’t aware of how many people I can help until there was a blood drive at my high school. The blood drive was run by the ARUP Blood Services and I learned a ton about donating blood. Before you donate you can talk to a representative and learn more about donating blood. I learned that the blood donated can be stored for about 28 days until it goes bad. The phlebotomist told me blood donations are given to several patients who need transfusions to live. If there are many people donating it can be a long process, but it’s worth the wait until the end because they will provide you with a variety of snacks, treats and drinks. If you are a healthy candidate, you can donate one pint of your blood that can help three different people. A healthy donor can donate blood every 56 days. According the American Red Cross “If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially helping save more than 1,000 lives!” Think about it. The complex blood inside our bodies can be used for a number of people’s lives; you can help save them. You can be a hero to those in need by donating your blood.
We talk about donating blood, but people typically don’t know the fundamentals of blood. It’s important to understand blood and what it does. So, what is blood? It’s the red liquid that oozes out when you scrape your arm or leg. That’s what we see and that’s what people say. But if you take the time to study or learn about blood, you’ll see that there are four different components: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Each component has a different function. The red blood cells function is to carry blood and oxygen to other tissues and organs in the body. Red blood cells contain
Cited: Avraham, Regina. The Circulatory System. Philadelphia. Chelsea House Publishers, 2000. Print Blood Facts and Statistics. American Red Cross, n.d. Web. 17 Jul. 2013 Blood Types: The ABO System. ARUP Blood Services. n.d. Web. 18 Jul. 2013 Litin, Scott MD. Mayo Clinic Family Health Book. 4th ed. Rochester. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education, 2009. 1056-1064. Print Moisse, Katie. Are Rules That Determine Who Can Donate Blood Outdated? Scientific American. 26 May 2010. Web. 3 Aug. 2013. Shugart, Jessica. Roll Up Your Sleeve. There’s No Substitute for Blood. Stanford Medicine Online Magazine. 2013. Web. 18 Jul. 2013