The Selfless Voluntary Unpaid Blood Donors - Essay Example

Specific Purpose: This day is dedicated to the selfless voluntary unpaid blood donors. These are our unsung heroes who save lives of millions of people all over the world. Blood is the best gift any person can give to another .Nobody can function without blood and nobody should find themselves in a situation where they lack blood to survive when we can all join hands and donate blood. II. Organizational Pattern: Topical An intended audience Individual who are donating bloods and those receiving blood from the donors 2. Introduction All protocol observed, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I invite you today for the World Blood Donor Day celebration. It is has been our norm every year to celebrate this day since 2004 which has been set aside worldwide for blood donation. Blood donation is one of the noblest acts any person could do for another. 3. II. Orientation Phase A. Blood Donation: It is believed by the World Health Organization that safe access to blood is a basic human right. This is something that is yet to be achieved in developing countries. There has been a great concern about blood access from paid donors being very risky. This is why today we gather here to advocate for free unpaid blood donation. Blood donation is very crucial and especially the safe donation. Statistics show that out of eighty million blood donors, only a third is form developing countries. B. Transition: This is why in 2004, WHO in collaboration with Red Cross made the world’s blood donation day. C. It is the aim of WHO to triple the number of blood donors who are unpaid. This is because it is both safe and cheap. There are procedures that are undertaken when voluntary blood donations are being taken. Blood testing is compulsory to ensure only safe blood is given to patients. There are many diseases that could be passed through blood donatio0n like HIV/AIDS. D. Transition: This is why all blood units must be tested (Burg and Magnussen et al 4). There is an unceasing scarcity of blood all through the year in several parts of the country. However, in toting up, heightened scarcity occurs during summer months and the holiday period. The rate at which blood is donated blood donation drops significantly. A number of patients are perishing because of a lack of blood for transfusion. The good news is that there are millions of people who are saved from blood donations each day most of which are women and children from poor and rural countries (Brown et al 29). E. Transition: That is why we should continue to campaign for more blood donors. The process of blood donation is very simple. A volunteer must be over the age of sixteen to donate blood. He or she must also be over a hundred and fifty pounds and must be physically fit. A patient simply lies on their back and blood is removed from the upper hand and pumped into a plastic bag which is sterilized. This blood is then taken to the laboratory for testing of any pathogens. It is then stored in the blood bank as it awaits to be given to patients who need it. The blood that is unsafe is then poured. Health workers must be in protective gloves during this process. The donor is given an energy drink and they are given a special card that contains the blood group and that is the card they use to donate blood during the next blood donation. The card is important because if a frequent donor is in need of blood, then the donor gets blood very first and easily (Kumer & Senthi, et al 4). All around the world, millions of people owe their lives to people they will never meet. The problem is that there are still people out there who do not have access to blood. They still cannot get safe blood easily .Non-government organizations and hospitals have taken the step to increase the blood donor pool. Most of vigorous blood donors are young people and students’ .These organizations have set free donation camps in institutions of higher learning, high schools and other learning facilities. This has made a very significant increase in the number of donors. Young people come in large numbers because they are enlightened and they know the importance of this heroic act. F. Transition: Donating blood is simple, safe and does not cause any harm to the donor. It does not make one unwell or weak. There is nothing to be scared about. There are many reasons why a person will need blood. One of the reasons is diseases. There are diseases that require constant blood donation. There is leukemia which is cancer of blood. Blood is constantly drained from the body because the bone marrow is destroyed. These patients need a lot of blood during their period of illness. Another main reason what people need blood include injury from accidents. People lose blood during accidents and they need blood during treatment. Episodes of road accidents are all over the world. This means that blood is constantly being used in blood banks and it needs to be replaced regularly. Another reason is during surgery. Patients need a lot of blood during surgery. There has been a massive campaign on regular blood donation. This is especially in the mass media. There have been campaigns on televisions and print media. The media has been on the forefront to advocate for unpaid voluntary blood donation. This is very important as it reaches a very big number of people at the same time. Campaigns have been in the newspapers and there have been documentaries all over advocating for regular blood donation. This has helped a lot in increasing the pool of blood donors. Blood is an insufficient and valuable resource.(Phelippe et al 152) In order to reduce its pointless recommendations and administration, WHO also promotes the suitable clinical use of blood products, which also decreases the frequency of unpleasant reactions. Hospitals are aggressively supported to set up Transfusion Committees. National Blood Transfusion Service has a duty to protect blood safety and that of the blood products. It regulates the blood banks and other blood related products. G. Transition: This ensures that blood does not run out in the blood banks and is not misused.(Burg and Magnussen et al 3) Some people die every day out of ignorance. They have different views about blood donation and blood transfusion which is mostly based on religion. Some believe that blood from someone else is dirty and should not be transfused to somebody else. This however is a myth. Blood is usable in any person as long as their blood groups match and the rhesus factor is compatible and it is safe. There are basically four blood groups which include A,B, AB and O.(Phelippe et al 149) There is also the rhesus factor that determines the compatibility of blood. There is rhesus positive and rhesus negative. These are some of the basics that are checked during blood transfusion. When these basic factors are not checked, blood may be rejected in the body and may result to adverse effects. There are many disadvantages of blood donation. Blood can be donated only after four months per person. This makes it very hard to have a continuous flow of blood in the banks. There are blood groups that are very rare lie O rhesus negative. Those people with this blood group have a hard time finding donors. Any person should donate blood. Imagine your mother or father gets a sudden cardiac arrest and needs an emergency open heart surgery. This person will need blood transfusion. This blood will not necessarily be from a relative but from a complete stranger. This should motivate any person to spare some blood for someone else. One does not have to wait for something bad to happen to them so as to be motivated to donate blood. A relative might also be involved in an accident which can happen at any time and at any place. These are unfortunate situations but they happen to real people. This person will need a lot of blood and again it will not necessarily be from a relative but from a person they will never meet. There are many signs that show someone who needs blood transfusion. Some include anemia, other people pass out and get into a coma and jaundice. These are some of the signs of low blood levels. According to Gomez,Navaro and Perez(228) there are two main ways of getting blood from a donor. The most common is to just take the blood from a vein . This blood is normally divided into parts, frequently red blood cells and plasma, since most recipients need only a precise constituent for transfusions. A characteristic donation is 450 milliliters or roughly one US pint of whole blood, even if 500 milliliter donations are also done. in the past, blood donors in India would give just 250 or 350 milliliter and donors in the Peoples Republic of China would give only 200 milliliters. The alternative method is to get blood from the donor divide it using a filter, keep the preferred part, and return the remainder to the donor, a process called apheresis. The blood is drained from a big arm vein just around the skin, normally the median cubital vein. This area of the skin is cleaned using iodine to stop skin bacteria from contaminating the collected blood and to prevent the sterilized needle from being infected. A big needle that is up to 17 gauge is used to reduce the is used to minimize shearing forces that could cause physical damage on the red blood cells A tourniquet can be wrapped over the upper arm to add the blood pleasure in the arm veins and swiftness up the process. The donor can sometimes be asked to hold something and compress it continually to swiften the blood flow (Gomez,Navaro and Perez et al 230). Testing alone is not safe because some diseases have window period and there are laboratory errors. This is why paid donors pose high risk of blood borne diseases. Regular unpaid blood donors are safer to use because they have regular tests and this overrules the possibility of window periods. These donors also do this as good will and have no reason to conceal any type of diseases. Regular donation of blood is what the world needs to continue saving lives. Donors are habitually kept at the donation place for fifteen minutes after donating since most unpleasant reactions occur instantly after the donation. Blood centers normally offer light snacks or a lunch pocket money to help the donor recuperate. The needle site is enclosed with a bandage for several hours. In hot climates, donors are advised to avoid strenuous games, alcohol or anything that could result to dehydration until some time hours after donation. Donors are screened for any diseases that would cause adverse effects after donation .This mostly affects first time donors, teenagers, and women. Statistics show that 2% of donors have had an unpleasant reaction to donation. Majority of these reactions are not severe. Very are cases of long term complications have been reported. This tells us that donating blood is very safe to the health of the donor. There are health benefits to those who donate blood. Blood donations prevent accumulation of toxic quantities of iron in patients with iron overload. Blood donation has been proven to reduce cases of heart diseases in males (Kumer and Senthil et al 12). Although blood donation might come from unpaid volunteers, these people are often given some sort of non monetary compensation. In some countries like Italy, people are given some time off from work as some sort of paid holiday. Blood centers also give assurance to blood donors and are given priority during blood shortage periods. There are free gifts given to donors like free first aid kits, free t-shirts, pens and other gift hampers. There are also awards for dedicated blood donors. They are recognized using medals. Singapore offers free hospitalization for regular blood donors. Conclusion In conclusion, we mark a decade after the world blood donation day was started. This day should be celebrated with a lot of emphasis on regular blood donation. Incidences of shortage of blood should be eliminated completely. There should be a hundred percent of unpaid blood donations in all countries of the world. People should come out in numbers to donate blood not just when an accident occurs or any health hazard but to replenish the blood banks. 1. Summary: I would like to personally like to extend my greatest thanks to all the blood donors in the world. I salute these unsung heroes. They save millions of lives and expect no pay or even praise. I would also like to thank the media for their overwhelming support to campaign for blood donation. They have helped this noble cause to save many people who could have lost lives and also those who cannot afford to pay for basic health services. People in rural areas have also benefitted from the free blood donation programs. Episodes of blood shortage are reducing every day as many people are getting enlightened and others are creating awareness all over the world. I would like to thank all of you who took time to listen to me and also for your continued support in the blood donation projects all over the world. II. Concluding devise: You are also heroes in your own little ways. Donate blood today and save a life. Thank you once again and God bless you all. Works Cited Van Den Burg and K. Magnussen ‘Ethical Aspects of Blood Donors and the Recipients of Their Blood’ Volume 12 (2012), Article ID 606753 ;1-4 Kumar, Nafis Ahmed and Senthil. "Aguide to organizing a voluntary blood donation camp." International journal of blood transfusion (2013): 12-17. T. Brown "Strengthening Blood Systems In Africa: Progress Under PEPFAR and Remaining Challenges" AABB News. April, (1998):28- 30 Philippe Steiner. "Gifts of Blood and Organs : the Market and "Fictitious" Commodities". Revue française de sociologie 5/2003 (Volume 44), p. 147-162. Retrieved 7 November 2010 Gómez-Simón A, Navarro-Núñez L, Pérez-Ceballos "Evaluation of four rapid methods for hemoglobin screening of whole blood donors in mobile collection settings". Transfus. Apher. Sci.(2007) 36 (3): 235–42 Read More