An ordinary student has the potential to save three lives every two months
By Jessica Neville, Science & Tech Editor
Published: Thursday, August 19, 2010
Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010
Donated blood goes through many treatments before being distributed to hospitals for patient use. Saving lives isn’t just a job reserved for firefighters and soldiers. In fact, an ordinary University student has the potential to save three lives every two months. How? It’s as easy as giving blood.
This Friday the University, led by the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service, has set a goal to collect 500 units of blood, which would be a personal record.
According to Michael Giancola, Director of CSLEPS, 687 people had signed up as of Wednesday at 2 p.m.
“We estimate that we need at least 660 people to sign up to reach the goal of 500, due to the possibility that some people will not come or will not be able to give blood when they arrive,” Giancola said.
Once the goal has been met, what happens to the donated blood? It turns out the blood isn’t shipped directly to a hospital to be transfused into a patient’s arm; there is actually a much longer process blood must go through to make the cut. From collection to treatment to distribution, find out how a blood donation can turn into a saved life.
Step 1: Donation
When a blood donor candidate arrives at a blood drive, the donor registers and completes a health history and mini physical. If everything checks out, about one pint of blood will be collected from the donor along with several small test tubes that can be used for further testing. An identical bar code label is placed on the bag, test tubes and the donor record to keep track of the donation, and the donation is stored in ice coolers until it is transported to a Red Cross processing center.
Kirsten Kruhm, senior blood donor recruiter with the American Red Cross, has worked with the University on multiple blood drives, including Friday’s record-setting drive.
“Last year, N.C. State gave 1,820 pints of blood on campus through 37 unique blood drives,” Kruhm said. “Most people have 10 to 12 pints of blood in their bodies, and donors usually give one pint at blood drives.”
Step 2: Processing
After the blood is donated, the barcode numbers are scanned into a computer database. The blood is sent to a Red Cross processing facility, where the blood is spun in centrifuges to separate it into its sub-components.
Dave Miller, director of testing at the Charlotte Red Cross Treatment Center, said the usable components of blood are the red blood cells, platelets and plasma. According to Miller, red cells are given to patients when their tissues need oxygen, platelets are used for clotting, particularly of capillaries, and plasma is used for clotting, especially for patients with hemophilia.
“The blood is also leuko-reduced, or white-reduced, meaning the blood is filtered to remove the white blood cells,” Miller said.
Primary components can be further manufactured into components such as cryoprecipitate, which is a harvested precipitate of plasma that contains fibrinogen. The test tubes collected from the initial blood donation are sent for testing at this time.
Step 3: Testing
The test tubes donated this Friday will be received at the Charlotte Red Cross National Testing Laboratory, one of five laboratories nationwide. The blood samples then undergo a dozen tests to make sure the blood doesn’t contain any infectious diseases and to establish the blood type. If the blood tests positive for any infectious diseases, the unit is discarded and the donor is notified.
“About one percent of the blood we collect has to be thrown away because it is contaminated,” Miller said. “50 percent of this is due to Hepatitis B, followed by Hepatitis C.”
Miller said blood type refers to the antigens present on the red blood cells. Antigens are substances that can produce an immune response if they are foreign to the body. Blood type A possesses A antigens, blood type B contains B antigens, blood type AB contains AB antigens, and blood type O has no antigens.
There are very specific ways blood types can be matched based on the antigens the patient’s red blood cells possess.
Step 4: Storage
After processing and testing, components of blood that are suitable for transfusion are labeled and stored. Red blood cells are stored in refrigerators at six degrees Celsius for up to 42 days, platelets are stored at room temperature in agitators for up to five days, and plasma and cyroprecipiate are stored in freezers for up to one year.
Miller said platelets are the hardest to maintain blood component because they can only be used for five days and have to stay at room temperature. People undergoing chemotherapy need a constant supply of platelets, according to Miller.
“We constantly need blood donated-not just a large amount at one time,” Miller said.
Step 5: Distribution
The blood is finally available to be distributed! Red Cross blood is available to be shipped to hospitals seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Kruhm said the Red Cross divides areas of the United States into blood regions. North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia comprise a common blood region where blood is generally maintained, according to Kruhm.
“In the Carolina blood region we need 1500 pints of blood every day to meet all the local patient needs,” Kruhm said.
Although blood donated in Raleigh will probably stay within the Carolina blood region, Kruhm said there are situations where the blood could be transported to another part of the U.S.
“If there’s a hurricane in another part of the country, we can send blood there to help them if necessary,” Kruhm said. “But we have some of the largest blood-using hospitals in the nation in RDU, such as Duke Medical, WakeMed, and REX, so much of the blood donated on Friday will go to those hospitals.”
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