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.

Why do it?

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

• 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.
• Have you 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.
• Have you been to northern Queensland in the past 4 weeks? You may have to wait until 4 weeks are up.
• 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.