Got blood?

By Matt Flumerfelt

June 30, 2009 12:22 am

— The American Red Cross needs blood.
July is a critical time for the Red Cross blood supply, said Rebecca Barnes, Red Cross donor recruitment representative. High School and college students account for between 20 and 25 percent of donations, she said. When students leave school for the summer, donations drop dramatically.
Summer vacation is also the time when many parents schedule surgeries requiring blood.
Summer travel affects the blood supply in more ways than one. Dedicated donors take vacations in summer, along with everyone else, and skip their usual donations. Travel also creates an increased need for blood as travel-related accidents occur, Barnes said.
DeVontae Myers, a high school student and blood donor, said she started giving blood as a result of a blood drive at Lowndes High School.
“A lot of incidents happen involving students, so the blood you give might actually help your friends or people you know,” Myers said.
James Radford, a reservist with the Air Force, was at the Red Cross Blood Donor Center at 2517 Bemiss Road Monday to donate platelets. Asked why he started donating, Radford said, “It’s just something I’ve always done. I’m military, so it goes along with everything else the military does.”
Anyone 17 years old who weighs 110 pounds or more can be a donor, Barnes said. There’s no upper age limit. Actually, 16 year olds can also donate with parental consent. They can either come to the donor center accompanied by a parent or bring a completed consent packet, which parents must read, initial, and sign, she said.
A quick test will determine whether a potential donor’s red cell count is high enough, making them eligible to give blood.
The Red Cross now has a new collection procedure called triple platelet donation, Barnes said. This procedure allows some donors with higher platelet counts and larger body masses to give a triple platelet donation, which can help more patients than a normal donation. Platelets enable blood to clot and are used to treat cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Platelets only have a five-day shelf life and are always needed. The procedure takes a little longer and differs only slightly from standard blood donation procedures, she said.
Donors always receive the standard snacks and fruit juice. Participants will get a free T-shirt from July 1-12. From July 1 through Sept. 30, donors can enter a
drawing to win one of three $1,000 gas gift cards, Barnes said. The “Dog Days of Summer Blood Drive,” sponsored by the Humane Society of Valdosta/Lowndes County, is going on all summer. The organization will draw names on Labor Day to give away two pet spaying/neutering procedures, as well as other prizes.
The ninth annual Summer Blood Bash, a friendly competition between Lowndes High and Valdosta High schools will be going on from July 6 through 11. The school with the highest percentage of students donating blood wins. Lowndes has won more often, Barnes said, but last year Valdosta High School won.
The Valdosta Daily Times’ annual Employee Blood Drive is going on July 1-4.
To donate blood, visit the American Red Cross Blood Services Office and Donor Center at 2517A Bemiss Road or call (229) 241-1141.

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Blood Products

Red blood cells (also called erythrocytes) carry oxygen from the lungs to all the cells in the body and take carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled. The red blood cells represent the most volume, making up 40-45 percent of one’s blood. They are shaped like tiny doughnuts, with an indentation in the center instead of a hole. They contain a special molecule called hemoglobin, which contains four iron atoms, and each iron atom can bind with one molecule of oxygen, allowing each hemoglobin molecule to carry four molecules of oxygen. In the capillaries, where there is little oxygen, the hemoglobin readily sheds the oxygen it is carrying and allows it to be absorbed by the body’s cells. The iron in hemoglobin is what makes blood red.

White blood cells (leukocytes) help the body fight infections and diseases. White blood cells “digest” harmful viruses and bacteria, such as those entering the body through a cut or a scrape, or developed in an ear infection or the flu. There are three types of white blood cell: granulocytes, lymphocytes, and monocytes. Granulocytes contain granules, which hold digestive enzymes and can kill invading bacteria and parasites. Lymphocytes help coordinate the body’s immune system. They produce antibodies — the immune proteins, which help remove foreign substances and invading organisms — and invade cells in the body that are infected with viruses. Monocytes, the largest kind of white blood cells, enter the tissues of the body and turn into even larger cells called macrophages. These eat foreign bacteria and destroy damaged, old, and dead cells of the body itself. This scavenging function clears the way for tissue healing and repair.

Platelets (thrombocytes) help blood to clot. They are tiny, colorless, irregularly shaped, cell fragments from large bone marrow cells. In their “resting” state, platelets look like two plates stuck together (hence the name). When they are “activated” to help form a clot, they change shape and look like tiny round blobs with tentacles. When bleeding occurs, platelets clump together and release a substance, which starts a chain of chemical events, called “coagulation cascade.” It produces long protein threads, which help create fibrin, which in turn helps form the clot over the wound.

Plasma is a clear, straw-colored liquid that carries the blood cells and various hormones, minerals, nutrients, and other materials through the body. It makes up a little more than half of the total blood volume. Plasma is about 90 percent water. The remaining 10 percent is made up of over 200 known substances, including proteins, clotting agents, hormones, vitamins, cholesterol, sugar (glucose), electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and calcium, as well as other materials the body needs.

Source: American Red Cross.

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