uA Official uA Blood Drive - Save lives like a boss

Welcome to the uA Blood Drive!

Saving your teammate's hide in a game is something we all have fun doing. Here in uA we take pride in bringing this attitude into RL and contribute something positive to society.

Current LIVE Tally:

Div

Click here to view this data on the Red25 site instead.

Donated already? Make sure you take a selfie of yourself while doing so or outside and post it here.

We all know somebody who has had cancer or major surgery and that blood donations are necessary for their survival. But did you know that 19% of women in Australia are given a blood component routinely during pregnancy? Rhesus disease will kill or seriously harm over 8% of all non-first born babies while they are still in the womb. This is when an rh- mother and an rh+ father have a child who is rh+, the mother detects this (usually during birth but sometimes earlier) and develops "immunity" to the child. If the mother then gets pregnant again, the fetus will be recognised as a disease and will attempt to kill it. In Australia we prevent this by using a small part of blood donations to hide the fetus from the mother and prevent her from ever becoming sensitised to the baby.

If you think about your family and all your friends on Facebook, 8% of them who are no the oldest child are now protected by blood donations and they probably don't even know their life was saved!

This is why we do this. It's not as simple as "your blood goes into somebody who's losing blood". Current technology allows literally hundreds of different treatments in ways that were never possible before. Australia tries to be self-sufficient but unfortunately, $31,000,000 was spent on importing plasma alone in 2012 and people still die who could have been saved.

The following posts will take you through:

• How to sign up and what to expect.
• The 3 types of blood donation.
• The most requested donations and uA donor experiences.

 

To join our group and have your donations count toward our tally:

• If you do not already have a Donor ID, call 13 14 95 and ask for one, say you want to join a group and you need the ID number, and book your first appointment.
• Go sign up to our group: https://www.donateblood.com.au/red25/join-group?group_id=12510
• 1 business day after your donation, it will show up on our tally here: https://www.donateblood.com.au/red25/view-group-tally?group_id=12510

What to expect:

• Your first ever donation will be "whole blood".
• Before your appointment, eat a real meal and drink 2 average sized cups of water.
  
• You fill out a form then go into a room with a nurse who takes your blood pressure and tests your hemoglobin by pricking your finger. During this you can eat pretzels, chips and drink another cup of water. This takes about 20 minutes.
  
• You then perform the actual donation. Whole blood takes 5-10 minutes, plasma takes about 45 minutes and platelets take 60-110 minutes.
• Finally you go to the rest room where they have cookies, cake, chocolate, party pies, iced coffee, chocolate milk and fruit juice. Depending on the centre, they may have more or less things to offer. Feel free to sit down and stuff your face for another 10 minutes before leaving.

What happens then?

• If you gave whole blood, it's separated into 3 parts. Red blood cells, plasma and platelets. These are then further processed depending on what's in your blood.
• You can make another appointment just before you leave. The time you have to wait between appointments depends on what you donated and what you donate next:

• Whole blood -> whole blood = 12 weeks
• Whole blood -> plasma or platelets = 4 weeks
• Platelets -> platelets = 4 weeks
• Platelets -> whole blood or plasma = 2 weeks
• Plasma -> anything = 2 weeks

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• If you have only ever given whole blood, you can ask to try plasma next time.
• If you have given plasma, you can ask to try platelets next time.

What restrictions apply?

• You must weigh over 50kg for any kind of blood donation in Australia.
• You must never have injected something that wasn't prescribed by a doctor.
• If you've had piercings or tattoos recently, you may have to wait between 2 to 6 weeks depending on circumstances.
• If you've been overseas recently, you may have to wait between 4 to 12 weeks.
• If you lived in the UK for more than 6 months during the mad cow years (1980-1996), you might not be able to donate ever, but they will clarify this for you.
• If you have been to northern Queensland you may have to wait 4 weeks.
• If you're pregnant or just given birth, they wont let you donate until a certain time afterwards.
• If you've engaged in risky sex, you may need additional testing first.
  
• You cannot donate if you have MS.

 

The 3 types of blood donation:
In times past, it was common for a major surgery to use up to 20 units of blood to save a patient. Blood was blood and that was it. These days it's used much more effectively. When somebody donates whole blood, it's separated into red blood cells (RBC), plasma and platelets which are then processed even further depending on your specific proteins, antigens, antibodies and immunoglobulins. Below I'll describe each type of donation in detail, but first, a little history.

Red blood cells (RBC) have antigens that define your type. You can have either A, B or both, or neither. RBC is mainly useful for the hemoglobin, which is the protein that carries oxygen. Also in your blood is platelets, which are what clot your blood. They are tiny little cell fragments that respond to a signal and clump together to seal leaks. Platelets and RBCs float in a liquid called plasma, which also contains a tonne of other proteins and products.

Plasma compatibility is in some way the opposite to your blood type. If you have blood type A, your RBCs have the A antigen and none of the A antibodies in your plasma, but you do have B antibodies. So if you receive transfusion of type B RBCs, your plasma and those RBCs will battle it out. If you are blood type AB, then you have neither A nor B antibodies in your plasma, and can receive whatever type RBCs you like. If you have type O blood, then you have BOTH types of antibodies in your plasma and can only receive type O RBCs or else your plasma will fight them. In this way, blood type O is the universal donor while type AB is the universal receiver of RBCs.

However, because blood type AB have neither of the antibodies in their plasma, their PLASMA will never battle any RBCs. In this sense, blood type AB is the universal donor of PLASMA and type O is the universal receiver of plasma.

Platelets work a little differently, because they express some but not all of the antigens on RBCs and they also need to be stored in some plasma:

• Type AB, B and O platelets are only given to the same type.
• Type AB platelets will not harm a patient of another blood type, but the patient will kill off many of the platelets, rendering the transfusion only partially effective.
  
• Type A sub group 1 can only be received by Type A.
• Type A sub group 2 can be received by Type A and O.

So, instead of giving a desperate bleeding patient 20 units of the same blood type, it is more efficient to give them 10 units of their compatible RBCs and 10 units of their compatible plasma. This means that more blood types can be mixed together for a single patient in immediate danger. Of course, if you have plenty of the identical blood type, that is always preferred, but this has opened up options.

Now onto platelets. When somebody is suffering dangerous bleeding risk, such as from a serious car accident, or heart/brain/eye surgery, often they will bleed for a long time, requiring many units of blood that will simply continue to bleed. Transfusing them with platelets will accelerate their healing both on a large obvious scale, and a small micro-bleeding scale during recovery. Reducing the overall need for blood.

Example transfusion:
Old system = 10 units of the identical blood type.
New system = 2 units of compatible RBCs, 2 units of compatible plasma, 1 unit of platelets.

As you can see, the efficiency and capability of blood transfusions is increased. Less blood needs to be used, and more options are available.

But it didn't end there. Turns out that plasma can be used to make over a dozen different treatments for specific illnesses, meaning that you don't need to use an entire unit of plasma, you can just use a fraction of the stuff you really need. Platelets, instead of requiring 4 donors to make just one unit, can be all taken from a single donor at once with apheresis.



Whole Blood:
Duration: 5-10 min process, 40 min total.
Quantity: 500ml, 30 for testing, 470 usable.
Makes: 210ml packed RBC, 250ml plasma, 60 Billion platelets.
Requirements: Hemoglobin 135-175 for male, 125-155 for female.
Lasts: Can be refrigerated for 42 days.
Best donor: O or A.
Uses: For packed RBC include trauma, surgery, anemia, blood loss and blood disorders such as sickle cell.
What happens: The most straightforward of donation types. You sit in a chair and the nurse gives you a needle. First they take 3 vials of blood for testing then she hooks a bag into the line. The bag sits on a little rocking table and fills up. It can take up to 15 minutes, but most people are done in less than 10, some even less than 5. You get a bandage and off you go.


Plasma:
Duration: 45 min process, 75 min total.
Quantity: 250ml to 900ml.
Makes: 1 to 3 units of plasma, in turn making immunoglobulins, Intragam P, albumin, cryoprecipitate, biostate and Factor 8 concentrate.
Requirements: Hemoglobin 135-175 for male, 125-155 for female, 1 successful whole blood donation in the past 2 years, aged 18-70 for males or 20-70 for females.
Lasts: Can be frozen for a year.
Best donor: AB, B or A.
Uses: Burn patients, shock, bleeding disorders, Von Willebrand disease, haemophilia, liver & kidney disease, immune deficiencies, immunisations, Rhesus disease prevention.
What happens: This time, instead of the blood going straight into a bag, it goes into a machine which separates the plasma from the rest of your blood. The plasma goes into a bag, then the machine sends the rest back into your arm. For this reason, your veins need to be bigger than a regular whole blood donation would require. The machine "draws" blood for about 10 minutes, then "returns" it for about 10 minutes. This is repeated until you're done. A small amount of anticoagulant is put in to prevent clumping and this can make your lips and nose tingle or give you a metallic taste in the mouth. It goes away as soon as you're finished. Also, sometimes to replace how much fluid you're losing, it will also return some saline solution with your blood. This can feel chilly in your arm and some people will feel cold all over. The nurses look after you and have blankets ready. They also provide newspapers and snacks.

The amount of plasma taken depends on your size. Your first 2 donations will be 13% of your body fluid, next 2 will be 16% and after that, if all is well, you can donate up to 19% of your body fluid.


Platelets:
Duration: 60-110 min process, up to 2 1/4 hours total.
Quantity: 240 to 720 Billion platelets and 200ml to 600ml of plasma
Makes: 1 to 3 units of platelets for adults, or 4 to 12 units for pediatrics. Better quality than platelets pooled together from whole blood donations since recipient is exposed to fewer donors.
Requirements: Male only, females may not donate platelets in Australia. 1 successful plasma donation in the past year, aged 18-70, no recent dental work, no aspirin in the past 7 days, no neurofen/ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory medicine in the past 3 days, no current cuts, abrasions, sores nor rashes, no recent gastric upset, abdominal pain, diarrhea nor vomiting.
Lasts: Only 5 days.
Best donor: O or A.
Uses: Cancer treatments, organ transplants, surgery. Leukemia and other cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy may not be able to produce platelets and can have spontaneous bleeding throughout their body without a constant supply from donors.
What happens: When you first see the platelet apheresis machine it looks a little more confusing and complicated than the plasma one. Fundamentally it isn't, but it was designed more recently and is therefore quite shiny. Your veins must be a nurse's dream to be able to do this, since a slight mistake means the pack needs to be thrown away and they are quite expensive. You get hooked up like one the plasma machine only this time, the cycle of "draw" and "return" happens much faster, like 1-2 minutes each way. The machine spins constantly, forever separating plasma and platelets from red blood cells. Your blood "draws" directly into the centrifuge and a little chamber slowly fills up with the separated RBCs and plasma which will empty itself back into you once it starts to get full. You will probably get more anticoagulant over the duration and may feel tingly all up your arm. Be sure to let the nurses know what's happening. They give you a couple of quick-eze to help, if you're lucky you get the soft minty chews instead of the powdery white tablets.

The amount of platelets taken depends on a few factors. You cannot lose more than half your platelets, your platelet concentration cannot fall below 150 Billion per Litre and you must be able to give at least 240 Billion in 110 minutes. If you are able to give more than 480 Billion in 110 minutes then your machine will attempt to do so, otherwise it will cut out much earlier. Some people are only on there for 60 minutes. On my last visit, I sat there for 95 minutes and they took 580 Billion platelets and 400ml of plasma.

 

The best way to donate - the simple version:

• Type AB are the universal donor for plasma, that is, 100% of people can receive their plasma while only 3% can receive their RBC. Although platelets from Type AB will not harm any patient, they are usually killed off by the patient's immune system and rendered only partially effective. Therefore plasma is the product most desired from this blood type.
• Type B can give plasma to 59% of the population, but RBC and platelets to only 13%. Therefore the most desired product from this blood type is plasma.
• Type A can give plasma to 87% of the population and RBC to 41%. Platelets from A1 (80% of Type A) can go to 41% of the population while platelets from A2 (20% of Type A) can go to 87%, this is theoretical however, as no case of haemolysis has every been documented from platelet transfusion from a Type A to an incompatible patient. Therefore All products are desired from this blood type.
• Type O is the universal donor for RBC, that is, 100%. Plasma and platelets have to go to other type O, which is fortunately 49% of the population. Therefore all products are desired from this blood type.

You can donate whole blood every 12 weeks, so using a 12 week table, here is the recommended schedule for the different blood types:

Type/Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
AB or B	Plasma		Plasma		Plasma		Plasma		Plasma		Plasma
A or O	Whole Blood				Platelets		Plasma		Platelets		Plasma

The best way to donate - the complicated version:

• Sometimes, especially around holiday periods, lots of people go away on vacation and cancel their appointments. Unfortunately, these are also the periods with the most accidents and sometimes it means we run short on supplies. Always try to keep an appointment just before or during the holidays, even try to book one so that it happens just before you go away. The nurses will avoid asking you to do this because they're afraid of you cancelling, so take the initiative and do it yourself. Or just let them know it's what you want and they'll help you out. It might mean changing from one type of donation to another, but it's easy to figure out.
  
• Type B can give RBC and platelets to 13% of the population. Since plasma keeps for a year while the other products expire much sooner, sometimes it's desirable for type B whole blood or platelets around long weekends and holidays. Ask the nurses if there's another product desired more and sometimes they might just say yes, even though usually plasma is the way to go. If you've done a platelet donation before and gave over 500 Billion platelets, then it could come in handy another time. However, if you're only putting out 240 Billion, then the benefits are much less.
• As a type B, if your regular plasma donation only goes to 400ml, then it is beneficial to replace one plasma donation every 12 weeks with a whole blood donation. It means you get 3 weeks off but instead of supplying 800ml of plasma in that 4 weeks, instead you're giving 250ml plasma, 210ml packed RBC and 60 Billion platelets. It's a pretty even trade and you save yourself a visit.
• Type O and A, if your platelet donation never goes above 350 Billion but your plasma donation is hitting 900ml every time, consider swapping out a platelet donation for plasma. Or better still, occasionally swap out a whole blood donation for an additional 2 plasma donations. 900ml is a lot of plasma and it makes so many more products, it's hard to justify a single whole blood donation when you could have given 1800ml.
• Type -, whatever blood type, if it's of the negative variety and especially if you have been pregnant before, it's possible your plasma has some special properties that will help other people who are RhD negative. After a few donations, check with your nurses if you should adjust your donation types. It might make no difference, but it's worth a shot.
• Male type O and A, if your platelet donation is over 600 Billion, then it might be more desirable to completely drop the whole blood donation and just alternate plasma and platelets every fortnight. 600 Billion platelets is out of this world and considering that no female can donate them along with 13% of all males, if your platelet donation really does go this high then it's something you should prioritise. Of course, if you're type AB or B, then it's almost never worth sacrificing your plasma, and even if you are type A or O, if your platelets aren't higher than 500 Billion then chances are, your RBCs are worth just as much, so don't drop the whole blood donations unless you're pumping out over 600 Billion and you ask the nurses first if it's a good idea. The area they service may still have it's own requirements.

uA donor stories:

Agamemnus:
I've donated all three kinds. I like whole blood because it's often done in just under 5 minutes but i also like platelets because i just sit around for 90 minutes and get treated like royalty. My plasma donations go to exactly 900ml and my platelets put out 580 billion. I've been doing it for years and happy to have it count towards the uA tally from 2016 onwards.

 

If you're female they wont apheresis platelets from you, just what comes out with whole blood. Otherwise, being O might have something to do with it too. Your platelets and plasma can only go to 9% of the population as a transfusion, but your plasma can be made into 18 different sub-products each with their own version of "compatibility", therefore making it something that can be used more reliably. This as opposed to platelets which need to be used within 5 days on a specificly compatible patient.

What state are you in? Did you join the group?

 

Yeah it will count everything done this year. Good to see some QLD rep!

Grunter and i are booked in for Monday 9th, gonna try get some more recruits happening!

 

Not great enough for you guys to hit the like button though

 

LOL you Queenslanders have been totally carried