The Whole Blood Story

Scene 1- Patient urgently needs blood. Needle stuck into the donor’s vein and directly transfused to the recipient. Maybe this scene from the films is so deeply imbibed into our minds that we have forgotten to educate ourselves about the right and wrong about blood donation and transfusion.

Every time I hear an announcement on the radio or read tweet ‘Urgently need units of a particular blood group, it scares me. It would you as well if you knew direct donor to recipient blood transfusions can prove to be fatal- and the cause is not limited to HIV.

Every authorized and registered blood bank has to conduct certain set of mandatory tests before blood can be issued. While most of you might be aware that blood is a carrier of many infections and can have immediate and long term affects. Did you know it’s mainly because of the White Blood Cells (WBC) contamination? And as per the Blood Safety Standards WBC content should be removed before transfusion.

Just like you would know a patient suffering from dengue will require transfusion of platelets, one of the blood components. In most cases; patients do not require whole blood. According to the International good clinical practices & National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), the blood should be separated into its various components (Packed red cell, platelets, granulocytes and CRYO- for hemophilic and coagulation protein deficiency).

Here is a check list to follow, share and keep in mind during emergency situations;

• Procure the blood components from licensed and reputed blood banks only.

• Insist on blood component alternative rather than the whole blood.

• Insist on blood which has already been tested for safety, for eg. NAT tested blood (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) helps in ruling out HIV, Hepatitis B and C at Genetic level.

• Maintain ambient transportation conditions for blood or it’s components-please ask the blood bank for special boxes made for the purpose of transporting blood from the bank to hospital.

• Under no circumstance opt for paid for professional donation.

• Do not insist on fresh blood, as it means the blood has not been tested for various safety parameters.

Always remember, most hospitals have tie-ups with blood banks and in case they do not have a particular group in stock they will assist you in procuring it. A patient can’t be refused blood transfusion if his guardians are unable to source donors of the same group. Most banks only need replacement of the units irrespective of the blood group of the donors.

Blood and its components come at a cost because of the tests conducted
to make it ‘Near Zero Infection Free’.

If you are healthy with a hemoglobin of 11 + and meet the criteria of a donor- do it even if you are scared of a prick. You could save a life and also help kids with Thalesemia.