On June 14, the world celebrates International Blood Donor Day.
For the second year in a row, Ukraine celebrates it in the conditions of war. In today's realities, the need for donor blood has increased many times. This day is designed to draw the special attention of Ukrainians to the need to regularly donate blood, which saves millions of lives!
What you should know about donation
Any person (Ukrainian or foreigner) between the ages of 18 and 60 with a minimum weight of 50-60 kg and no contraindications to donation can be a blood donor.
Before the blood donation procedure, each donor undergoes a mandatory free examination and only after that is he allowed to donate.
Examination of blood donors and blood components is carried out in order to guarantee the safety of the health of donors and recipients (a person to whom donor blood is transfused).
The doctor, determining the indications for donation, its volume and type, relies on the Criteria for excluding donors of whole blood and blood components according to absolute and temporary contraindications.
Absolute contraindications are cardiovascular diseases, oncological diseases, pathological tendency to bleeding, diabetes, infectious diseases in the anamnesis (hepatitis B and C, HIV).
Temporary contraindications have different terms depending on the reason.
After an infectious disease, potential donors are suspended for at least two weeks after the date of complete clinical recovery.
- flu-like diseases - 2 weeks after symptoms disappear;
- fever - 2 weeks from the date of disappearance of symptoms;
- tuberculosis - 2 years after the date of confirmed recovery;
- osteomyelitis - 2 years after the date of confirmed recovery;
- syphilis - 1 year after the date of confirmed recovery;
- toxoplasmosis - 6 months after the date of clinical recovery.
Such a long list of contraindications is primarily concern for donors! The principle "save life safely" works. In the case of a high temperature or a chronic disease, the human body needs rest and treatment, not the burden that is blood donation.
When preparing for donation, do not drink alcohol 48 hours before donating blood, refuse fatty, fried, smoked, dairy food, consume less salt the day before. Get some sleep and be sure to eat a light breakfast. Do not smoke an hour before blood donation. Do not donate blood if you feel chills, dizziness, headache or weakness. Answer the doctor's questions frankly and do not hide information during the medical examination.
The standard dose of blood taken for donation is 450 ml and an additional 25 ml for tests. If you have a minimum weight (50 kg), then doctors recommend giving 350 ml (+25 for tests). In general, 7-13% of the total blood volume is lost, but the cell count does not drop to dangerous levels, so it is safe!
Why is regular donation important? Donating blood components requires a repeat donation to test your blood 6 months after the first donation and make sure your plasma can be used safely, the so-called donor blood quarantine procedure. Prior to this, the plasma is frozen for 6 months and not used until your next blood donation. Thus, it is regular donation that allows uninterrupted use of reserved blood reserves.
The interval between whole blood donations is 60 days for both men and women, and between plasma or platelet donations is 14 days for either gender.
After five regular donations, it is recommended to take a break of at least 3 months. If you donated whole blood, then you can donate plasma or platelets after 30 days.
After donating blood, the donor should rest for 10-15 minutes. Notify staff if you feel dizzy or weak. In this condition, it is not recommended to get behind the wheel or leave the blood donation center. During the first 12 hours after donation, avoid intense physical activity. It is not recommended to lift heavy objects with the hand from which blood was taken. For the next two days, you need to eat well and regularly and drink a larger than usual amount of water (at least 2 liters). It is better to refrain from alcohol at this time.
Donor blood is a valuable resource for both routine treatment and emergency care. Donation is an urgent issue even now, when there is a war in Ukraine and hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians need help and preservation of life and health thanks to blood transfusions. And this can be done only if there is a sufficient amount of donor resources - free, voluntary donors and an inexhaustible supply of donor blood and its components.
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