Answer the following questions in your own words.

Explain the importance and need of blood donation.

Blood donation is one of the biggest donations of an individual towards their society. Blood loss can occur under circumstances of accidents, during surgeries or in case of diseases which require blood transfusion. Blood donation without any expectation is always life saving. Most of the lives are lost due to blood loss during surgeries, accidents or cases where regular blood transfusion is required. These lives can be saved, if adequate amount of blood is available. Adequate amount of available blood can save many lives. It does not harm or affect the body of the donor and the amount of blood which is donated is recovered within 24 hrs. This donated blood can be stored and used as and when the requirement arises.

Whatever is your reason there is a need for constant contribution for a healthy and reliable blood supply. When a person willingly draws his blood and it is used for transfusion it is known as blood donation. Blood bank often participates in the collection process.

Blood donation process:

● Blood donation is a simple, four-step process: registration, medical history and mini-physical, donation and refreshments. It is a safe process, and a sterile needle is used only once for each donor and then discarded.

● The actual blood donation typically takes less than 10-12 minutes. The entire process, from the time you arrive to the time you leave, takes about an hour and 15 minutes.

● The average adult has about 10 pints of blood in his body. Roughly one pint is given during a donation.

● A healthy donor may donate red blood cells every 56 days, or double red cells every 112 days. There are four types of transferable products that can be derived from blood: red cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. Typically, two or three of these are produced from a pint of donated whole blood — hence each donation can help save more than one life.