BLOOD DONATION

Patients who have lost much blood on account of accident, disease or surgical operation require blood. Sudden loss of blood in a large quantity can even cause death.

To supply blood of the right group immediately to the patients blood banks have been established all over the world. These banks collect blood, test it, classify it into different groups and store it for future use. They also store components of blood.  

Blood banks get blood from people who donate it voluntarily. Blood donation is therefore a great service which any able-bodied adult can provide to the suffering humanity.

There is a mistaken notion among some people that blood donors become weak by giving blood. In fact our body makes and replaces the blood we have given within a few weeks. But it is advisable for the donor not to give blood more often than every three months.

Blood donation drives are usually organised by voluntary agencies through camps. People come and offer their blood. Nurses and doctors help in collecting blood. Blood group of the donor is first checked. The donor must be of the right age and weight. He must be healthy. Blood is drawn from a vein in the donor's arm. The blood is collected in a bottle or a plastic bag, kept in a cool place and sent to the blood bank. Blood is also donated directly in case of emergency. The donor is made to lie in a bed near the patient and blood is taken from his body and put into the body of the recipient immediately. This is called blood transfusion. In poor countries like India there are professional blood donors who donate blood for money. If a donor suffers from some infectious disease the recipient is likely to catch it. --

It is really heartening to note that people who shed one an-other's blood during wars and riots come forward voluntarily to give their own blood and save other people's lives. This shows that man, after all, is not so bad as he is sometimes depicted in stories, novels and films.