Many people essentially engage themselves in blood donation every year. Many blood transfusion spear headers will tell you that you are saving lives, but they don’t tell you the back story of what happens afterward. Blood donation can be easily made by anyone who is at least seventeen years. You may also have to weigh at least 110lbs and be in good health. Once you get to your blood donation center, you get your health history recorded and undergo a small checkup. Your blood is then collected in test tubes and labeled, after which it is placed on ice to be transported to the processing center.
As soon as it gets to the center, your blood is placed in labs, and all of your information is keyed in computers. Your blood is then separated into various components from which some can be transfused, and some cannot. The platelets and red blood cells are leuko-reduced, meaning that the white cells are taken out, so that chances of the recipient reacting negatively to the new blood are lowered. After that, every component is packaged as one particular unit so that they can be easily transfused to another person.
Your blood is then taken to the lab from where several tests are carried out. With these tests, the doctors are able to decipher whether the blood has any possible diseases and what blood type it is. Once the tests are concluded, the center acquires the results that then determine whether your blood is positive, and if it is, it is discarded. You are also informed in case this happens. If your results are good, you get all of our units stored. Platelets will be stored at room temperature, red cells are refrigerated, and cryo, as well as plasma, are kept in a medical freezer. From here, you get your blood shipped to hospitals as soon as they desire.
As the blood gets to the transfusion process, the doctors are the ones who will declare a patient to be needy of the blood. The doctors certify what kind of blood the patient needs. In case the patient is suffering from a deficiency of iron or anemia, he is able to receive red blood cell transfusion. A chemotherapy patient will receive a transfusion of platelets. With a patient who is suffering from liver failure or severe burns, he gets a plasma transfusion. This then shows that you need to have all your units separated in the lab so that it can be easy when it is time to transfer blood to a given patient needing a given need.