You probably see me donating blood since 2016, I hope what I am doing is inspiring each and every one of you. And I would like to tell you more about it so that you may be convinced to do it somehow. So, let's start with some background of blood donation.
Do you know that our beautiful country, Malaysia is still struggling with inadequate of blood supply? It is because our nation does not aware of this issue, there is only 2.2% of permanent blood donor in Malaysia whereas there are 3.5 to 5% in other developed countries. I have done a survey with 26 of my friends, I found out 23/26 never donate blood before with the reason - fear of needles/blood. Some of them also did mentioned that they do not see any blood donation drive and campaign around their areas.
Not only that, one of the reason of insufficient blood packs is because the components that made up blood does not last forever. They have a short lifespan as platelets can be stored up to 7 days maximum, we can keep red blood cell about 42 days out of our blood stream and plasma can lasts for a year in a suitable condition. Besides that, we need average 2000 bags of blood to cater the country needs.
There are 4 types of blood donation which are whole blood, plasma apheresis, platelets apheresis and power red as known as red cells. Whole blood is the most common type, I was doing this since the first time. It can be separated into transfusable components and the actual donation only takes approximately 10 minutes. You are eligible to donate again after 3 months. Next, plasma and platelets donation required a machine to collect the whole blood and returns the other blood component back to the donor. It is a vital element as it helps in blood clotting to prevent massive blood loss. This takes a long time, about 1 hour. There is a machine needed for red cells donation too, it is the most transfused component. The criteria of donor are slightly higher, they need to have a higher haemoglobin rate and also higher body weight. People usually takes 40 minutes to complete the donation and able to donate again after 112 days.
After your blood is collected into a pack, it will be scanned into an online database. After that, it will be spun in the centrifuge to separate the components. The blood packs are then leukoreduced (remove white blood cell) and bacterially tested. A dozens test are performed on the donated blood, the results would be transferred electronically to the manufacturing facility. They stored positive blood packs in refrigerator and available for shipping anytime to the hospitals.
There are many benefits of being a blood donor. Here are some examples:
1) Blood donating reduces the risk of getting heart disease.
2) It also minimizes the risk of getting cancers.
3) It prevent you from getting type 2 diabetes.
4) Bloodletting burns calories. Blood donors shed 650 kcal every time they donate.
5) You will receive a free health check-up as donate blood have to go through some test to ensure the blood is safe to be used.
6) You can get a free hepatitis B vaccination if you donate twice a year. However, this only applied to blood donation at National Blood Centre and other associated hospitals.
7) Permanent blood donor who have donated above 50 times can get a treatment in first class hospital for free. Again, you will have to donate at National Blood Centre or associated hospitals.
8) Last but not least, the joy of saving life. Don't you feel proud knowing that you can save up to 3 lives for every pint of whole blood you donate? This is because whole blood can be separated into 3 components, this is also the reason the tagline "1 pint of blood save 3 lives" is used to promote and encourage people to donate blood.
The national blood centre (pusat darah negara) is located at Jalan Tun Razak, Titiwangsa, 50400 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They collect bloods and supplies them to both general and private hospitals. There is also a donation suit established by the ministry of health in the Midvalley Megamall. It is placed at the 3rd floor, beside Daiso. Moreover, Unit Transfusi Perubatan Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang, Selangor is another location that you can go for blood donation. It is also known as Klang General Hospital.
A-type blood tends to run short in the blood bank. According to the registration division head Ms Rosalind Choo, many A-blood type donors were not aware and not coming forward to donate their blood. Therefore, I suggest people who are having A-type blood should donate more often and even better to be a permanent donor to avoid low stock of A-type blood packs. In addition, I think we should set up more donation suite, run more donation drive around the country. It would be so much better if schools can organize blood campaign to teach young kids about blood as well as persuade them to be a permanent donor when they are able to donate.
Sorry, if this is a bit dry as there are no photos. I still hope you learn something from this post and convinced to be a blood donor. See you next post!
Loves, meLodyyap.
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