Its a blood donation camp operating at my company's recreation room today and we have been receiving mails for reminding people about coming forward and registering for the same. After i went and donated my share of units of blood, little did i realize how worthwhile the effort can be, especially when you see someone suffer and die without blood.
Mine was a first experience and i saw only 15 folks enrolled for 40 mins time slot. No wonder few minutes back there was another note sent out to the global mailer, requesting all to come and donate blood and also a photo from the mornings donation being pasted into the mail, which makes it more convincing. I was a feeling well but i could see lot of people tensed out, being regular donars too. Probably the sight of blood and needles around make people skip few beats. As i filled up my forms and got my blood group confirmed with a medical test, was amazed by the smooth conduct of the officials from the Rotary blood bank and the way whole thing was getting together. After my Blood pressure check, was waiting for my turn when i got to meet one of the colleagues who was also a first timer and was a bit tensed out. We shared few small talks, and then i was called for.
I was smiling and as the lab assistant got the blood bag ready and took out a new needle, he asked me if i was feeling fine and gave me a smile. I was already glaring and seeing across the room where few people after donating, were sitting and sipping some juice and some volunteers were collecting details of others. It pained a little as he pricked the needle into my vein, but then it was OK afterwards. I was enjoying my blood go off, when i was given a stress buster type ball, so that i could keep pressing it for continuing the blood flow. Meanwhile, as this process went on, one of the older volunteers, from Rotary TTK blood club, came across and stood by me. We exchanged smiles and she asked if i was a first timer. Upon a positive nod, we started discussing about blood banks and their roles. I never miss a chance to gather such information & discuss and it was a great opportunity to hear from this lady who had been working with the blood bank as a volunteer for the past 29 years. As she started telling about her experience, and especially the functioning of the blood banks, i realized that blood banking is a noble but a very serious cause. They are really choosy about from who they draw blood. She also shared this piece of information, that normally during any emergency, they do not recommend people taking blood from their relatives, as that is a circle of influence where people are not transparent fully. There is a severe chance that one of the relatives of yours, has been suffering from some ailment which may not let them donate blood, but just seeing the emergency they gulp the truth down and it can be risky for both the parties at the end.
As the talk went on, i could not resist asking her about how much response they get of people while they conduct such camps. I could see the statistics myself though, out of our whole organisation, almost 100 had only registered which is just a meager number. She also explained the similar situation, where they have visited any and every IT company, colleges and factories at Bangalore but they observe that normally 10-15% people only turn up. Considering that any point in time, 15-20% would be suffering from something or the other which would not let them donate, but then out of the remaining 80-85%, the turnout is quite less. But she was quite optimistic and that's what i liked about the whole group. She emphasised that they need to have more volunteers and spread the word so that more no of people could be roped in to satisfy the requirements.
Also after i donated my share, thanked this volunteer and relaxed for sometime, sipping apple juice, another volunteer explained about their operations in Bangalore and also about Stem cells from blood beign collect by Apharasis, which is a technology geared way of acquiring Blood steam cells which can be further divided into its classifications and donated to people suffering from severe dieseases. That discussion was really an eye opener and i could feel that how much more volunteering is needed to set the record straight.
As i left the room, commit ed myself to donate blood after regular interval and wish this post gets few more to come in and volunteer and helps spread a word.
Some basic details which i learnt from them, are shared here for your reference.
The amount of blood drawn and the methods vary, but a typical donation is 500 milliliters of whole blood.
Donors are typically required to give consent for the process.
Normally at a given time, a person has 5-6 ltrs of blood in the body.
Components of whole blood-usually red blood cells and plasma.
Mine was a first experience and i saw only 15 folks enrolled for 40 mins time slot. No wonder few minutes back there was another note sent out to the global mailer, requesting all to come and donate blood and also a photo from the mornings donation being pasted into the mail, which makes it more convincing. I was a feeling well but i could see lot of people tensed out, being regular donars too. Probably the sight of blood and needles around make people skip few beats. As i filled up my forms and got my blood group confirmed with a medical test, was amazed by the smooth conduct of the officials from the Rotary blood bank and the way whole thing was getting together. After my Blood pressure check, was waiting for my turn when i got to meet one of the colleagues who was also a first timer and was a bit tensed out. We shared few small talks, and then i was called for.
I was smiling and as the lab assistant got the blood bag ready and took out a new needle, he asked me if i was feeling fine and gave me a smile. I was already glaring and seeing across the room where few people after donating, were sitting and sipping some juice and some volunteers were collecting details of others. It pained a little as he pricked the needle into my vein, but then it was OK afterwards. I was enjoying my blood go off, when i was given a stress buster type ball, so that i could keep pressing it for continuing the blood flow. Meanwhile, as this process went on, one of the older volunteers, from Rotary TTK blood club, came across and stood by me. We exchanged smiles and she asked if i was a first timer. Upon a positive nod, we started discussing about blood banks and their roles. I never miss a chance to gather such information & discuss and it was a great opportunity to hear from this lady who had been working with the blood bank as a volunteer for the past 29 years. As she started telling about her experience, and especially the functioning of the blood banks, i realized that blood banking is a noble but a very serious cause. They are really choosy about from who they draw blood. She also shared this piece of information, that normally during any emergency, they do not recommend people taking blood from their relatives, as that is a circle of influence where people are not transparent fully. There is a severe chance that one of the relatives of yours, has been suffering from some ailment which may not let them donate blood, but just seeing the emergency they gulp the truth down and it can be risky for both the parties at the end.
As the talk went on, i could not resist asking her about how much response they get of people while they conduct such camps. I could see the statistics myself though, out of our whole organisation, almost 100 had only registered which is just a meager number. She also explained the similar situation, where they have visited any and every IT company, colleges and factories at Bangalore but they observe that normally 10-15% people only turn up. Considering that any point in time, 15-20% would be suffering from something or the other which would not let them donate, but then out of the remaining 80-85%, the turnout is quite less. But she was quite optimistic and that's what i liked about the whole group. She emphasised that they need to have more volunteers and spread the word so that more no of people could be roped in to satisfy the requirements.
Also after i donated my share, thanked this volunteer and relaxed for sometime, sipping apple juice, another volunteer explained about their operations in Bangalore and also about Stem cells from blood beign collect by Apharasis, which is a technology geared way of acquiring Blood steam cells which can be further divided into its classifications and donated to people suffering from severe dieseases. That discussion was really an eye opener and i could feel that how much more volunteering is needed to set the record straight.
As i left the room, commit ed myself to donate blood after regular interval and wish this post gets few more to come in and volunteer and helps spread a word.
Some basic details which i learnt from them, are shared here for your reference.
The amount of blood drawn and the methods vary, but a typical donation is 500 milliliters of whole blood.
Donors are typically required to give consent for the process.
Normally at a given time, a person has 5-6 ltrs of blood in the body.
Components of whole blood-usually red blood cells and plasma.
for more information, please visit Rotary Blood Bank Website
Hey Saurabh,
ReplyDeleteGood one! I guess, a print out of this article on the office walls could hslp in increasing the number of donors!!!
see u on blood donation day!! tc
Avil D'souza