Dr. Johnson is a gynecologic oncologist and a blood donations advocate with Aurora BayCare. He joined us on “Wisconsin Tonight” to talk about the importance of doting blood – especially during winter months.
Blood donation is giving some of your blood so that it can be used to help someone else. Donated blood helps people who have lost blood in an accident or who have an illness such as cancer, anemia, sickle cell disease, or hemophilia. Donated blood includes red blood cells and the other things that make up the blood, such as platelets and plasma. Blood that contains all the parts is called whole blood.
The act of donating blood is simple:
* You will fill out some forms and answer questions about your health.
* A health professional will measure your temperature, pulse, and blood pressure. He or she also will use a finger-stick test to make sure that you have enough iron in your blood.
* The health professional will clean the arm you will use to give blood. Then he or she will put a needle into a vein on the inside of your elbow. The needle is attached to a bag to collect the blood.
* You may be given a soft ball or another object to squeeze every few seconds to help the blood flow.
* When the bag is full, the health professional will take out the needle. He or she will wrap a bandage around your arm to stop any bleeding.
Why is it an important a topic of discussion, especially during the winter months?
The need for blood donations never goes away, but during the winter, we increasingly find that we need even more blood donations. The winter months are challenging as donations take a dip in correlation to holiday schedules, flu season, and people traveling for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and more.
How is donated blood used?
Some of the patients who typically require donated blood include but are not limited to:
* Cancer patients
* Leukemia patients
* Burn patients
* Those receiving organ or bone marrow transplants
* Premature babies
* Victims of traumatic injuries and accidents
* Patients undergoing certain surgeries
Is our area's blood supply currently in need?
There is always a need for donated blood in our community. The blood supply must cover every day needs and unexpected disasters. Frequent volunteer blood donors ensure that blood is ready (collected and tested) and available year-round whenever and wherever it is needed. A common misunderstanding about blood usage is that accident victims are the patients who use the most blood. Actually, those who receive the most blood include people:
* Being treated for cancer
* Undergoing orthopedic surgeries
* Undergoing organ and marrow transplants
* Undergoing cardiovascular surgeries
* Being treated for inherited blood disorders
10 blood donation facts:
* Summer and holiday donations decrease by 20%.
* Every three seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.
* The average adult has about 10 to 11 pints of blood. During a whole blood donation, about one pint is drawn.
* A unit of whole blood can impact the lives of up to three people because it can be separated into three distinct products, each of which has a different function and can be used in concentrated doses depending on patient need.
* In order to donate blood you must weigh at least 110 lbs. and be in general good health.
* You must be at least 17 years old (16 with signed parental consent).
* Less than 5% of the eligible population donates.
* One in three people will need a blood transfusion in his/her lifetime.
* Someone in our area receives a blood transfusion every four minutes.
* People with O negative blood type are universal donors. This means their red blood cells can be transfused to patients with any blood type.
For more information, visit BayCare Clinic on the web at baycare.net.
