The Safety of Blood
A five-year old girl is riding down the street, on her way to her best friends house. ... A main artery in her leg has been severed and blood fills the gutter of the street. As she gets rushed to the hospital in the ambulance, a pint of blood is given to her to attempt to replace some of the life giving fluid that is pouring out of her leg. In the end she received four pints of blood and made a full recovery. ... What if that blood hadnt been there because the nations blood supply was low? What if the blood that she received had been infected with a deadly disease such as Syphilis or HIV? ... Even though one in every five people will need a blood transfusion and the risk of contracting a disease such as AIDS is practically negligible, people are still concerned that the blood that they receive may have harmful or deadly diseases and that todays blood supply is not "safe. ... However, even though the overwhelming probability is that nothing will go wrong, people still fear that the nations blood supply is unsafe. They are incorrect in this belief, though, because much is done to assure that the nations blood supply is, in fact, safe. One requirement to having a safe blood supply is to have an extensive reserve, because this allows for the option of discarding any blood that is potentially unsafe. The assurance of an ample blood supply begins with the donation process. Most of the people in this country have the capability to donate blood. ... 1 There are few restrictions and the reason why there are blood shortages is because people dont want to donate as opposed to cant donate. For most blood centers, the physical criteria that a donor must meet are as follows: person must be at least 17 years of age, weigh 110 pounds, and be in good physical health.
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