A blood supply shortage in the US has reached a “crisis” level, according to the American Red Cross, which says it is the second time in its 150-year history that levels have been this low.
Factors including wildfires and extreme heat have combined to create the current situation, Dr Courtney Lawrence, who works with the American Red Cross, told the BBC.
Supply levels dropped by a quarter just last month. The crisis has struck during summer, when the amount of blood needed by hospitals typically increases.
That is because of an increased number of car accidents and more people spending time outdoors, resulting in more injuries that require blood transfusions, Lawrence said.
My mom was an ER nurse and she said a few times a year they would get a batch of defective bags. You try to use them and they just burst, like they’re sealed wrong. So that sucks.
People who have donated blood or organs should get access to free blood and organ donations when they need them.
People who are on blood and organ donation lists should get priority access to blood and organs when they need them.
We should still try to take care of people who refuse to donate but they should wait behind the people who are contributing to the health of society with their own bodies.
What about people who can’t donate blood, or can’t do so without great inconvenience? Where do you draw the line for moral responsibility?
What about people who have a phobia of needles, suffered from medical abuse, or have adverse reactions to donating blood that makes them sick for a few days or weeks?
If we are talking about people who contribute to other’s health through their own bodies, does that mean every mother is at the top of the list because birthing a baby is a contribution to another’s health?
What about medical workers working 12hr shifts and completely wrecking their own bodies in the process? Is that a lesser contribution than someone who donates blood once a month? To go further, where would you put a factory worker with repetitive strain injury who makes the medical equipment that is essential to treating others?
If we want to allot the use of blood based on one’s contribution of their bodies, we have to first ask what it means to contribute. No donor lives in a vacuum. If you can donate blood, it means you are supported by circumstances that leave you in good enough health to donate blood.
I think a better solution is to pass a law requiring that blood donors receive a check equal to half of whatever the hospital charges the patient that receives the donated blood. As long as we’re going to have a for profit healthcare system, blood donors should be paid just like anyone else.
Donating blood can slightly reduce your amount of microplastics and PFAS since the blood your body makes to replace the donated blood will not contain those things.
That’s if you consume non-contaminated fluids and solid foods, right?
Well, those things probably just accumulate in your body over time. So loosing some blood will reduce the concentration, even if you don’t avoid intake.
Article says
“Supplies of every blood type are currently needed, but especially O positive.”
I thought O Negative was the universal donner.
Most donor blood is O+
O- is great because it is (almost always*) usable by anyone of any blood type, but only like 7% of people have it, so the overall supply is not very high and it’s typically reserved for emergencies and O- patients.
O+ can be given to most people because most people have O+ blood. Something like 30-40% of people have O+ and can thus receive O+ donations. All the Rh+ blood types can receive O+ blood too, which accounts for the vast majority of people. A+ is something like 25-30% of the population and B+ is like 10%. Altogether, O+, A+, B+, and AB+ make up probably about 75-85% of the population, and all of those people can receive O+ blood donations, thus the supply of O+ blood is the most-needed most of the time.
Obviously they also want as much O- as possible too. Hell, they want all of them all the time except AB type blood from females.
*Blood typing is actually a lot more complicated than A/B antigen and Rh factor, so some people with certain antigens need very specific donor blood or autologous blood that they donate themselves prior to a procedure or whatnot.
What is different about AB type from females? That describes me and I’ve almost earned my 2 gallon pin, the ladies in the blood mobile are always happy to see me.
AB type females can develop dangerous antibodies during pregnancy, and so even if you’ve never been pregnant (or think you’ve never been pregnant) there is still statistically an additional risk because there’s no good way to know for certain whether you’ve has ever been pregnant. The tests and screening for blood antibodies are expensive. Because of the heightened risk, taking AB positive female blood can be more expensive and complicated than it’s worth, so many blood banks just don’t actively encourage AB females to donate as often. There is still use for any kind of blood, even if it is used for research or if they use the RBC and waste the plasma. They certainly would never turn you away, but they also won’t regularly pester you the way they will an O- or O+ donor
AB+ male donor plasma is compatible with all blood types (universal plasma donor) and so they really want that. They call it liquid gold
I don’t know enough about blood banking specifically but it’s possible that there are some blood banks who have better capacity to screen any female AB plasma for HLA antibodies and so they don’t care as much. Idk. I just know as an AB+ female, my local blood bank was like “Don’t donate unless we tell you we need it”
Fascinating, cool to know, thank you. I will ask about it next time i donate.
Why would I donate blood so whoever can charge someone $25k to use it?
Because it’s painless, barely takes any time, and can save a life.
I try to do it whenever I can, but sadly recent tats and piercings are a common disqualifying factor.
Because ultimately it is needed to save someone’s life, and there’s no other way allowed to get it to them.
Oh my god dude just take some time off the internet.