A few days ago, a friend of mine puked up blood and ended up in the hospital. It was truly terrifying. After the necessary procedures, it was decided that she’d need either a blood transfusion or an iron transfusion and she ended up receiving the latter.
Now I don’t know much about iron transfusions or how she felt during the process, but I do know a bit about blood transfusions, specifically where that blood comes from.
No, not the black market. Blood donors.
About half of all Canadians will need or know someone who needs blood. For 700 hospitals across Canada, this blood is provided by Canadian Blood Services, a not-for-profit organization that runs over 19,000 donor clinics. The only province the organization doesn’t cover is Quebec, which is covered by Héma-Québec. The blood used for transfusions comes from the donors who visit these clinics.
Donors like you and me.
I’ve donated blood twice and been deferred once. The first time I donated was the day after my 17th birthday, which is when I was first eligible. I had to fill out a form where I questioned everything I knew and was then further questioned by one of the volunteers. My finger was pricked multiple times to try and get blood to test my hemoglobin levels, as female donors are required to have hemoglobin levels of at least 125g/L. Then came the actual blood donation. I am luckily relatively unafraid of needles, so having one stuck in me for five or so minutes wasn’t so bad. The volunteers were incredibly kind and they gave me juice! Out of all the things to be excited about, the juice was probably the best. Plus once you’re finished, they provide snacks. Granted, it’s a safety precaution mainly to prevent fainting, but it’s still a nice touch.
The standard donation is about half a litre or two cups, which seems like a lot. It isn’t. The average person has about five litres of blood in their body, and you can lose up to 40% without it being fatal. Half a litre is about 10% of the blood you have.
Besides, if it wasn’t safe for you to donate, you’d be deferred. I’ve been deferred for being 1g/L below the minimum hemoglobin level. If I had donated, I’d probably have been fine, but they don’t take chances.
The point of all this is to show you that donating blood doesn’t have to be scary or difficult. All it takes is an appointment at your local clinic. There will actually be a clinic here at Laurier on the 23rd of October! So as long as you meet donor requirements, head on over to the Canadian Blood Services website and sign up for a time slot. All it takes is an hour to change someone’s life.