Blood Donation

I went for blood donation last Wednesday, which was on 21st September. I felt very embarrassing to say that this was my first time donating blood after 4 years since my last time donate was at year 2007;/ Can say that it was my first time too because the anxious feeling is the same as the first time I'm donating blood.

It was a mobile blood team that have their booth setup in my company. I did not voluntarily go to Pusat Darah Negara (PDN) to donate it --well because I'm the lazy kind of guy that expected things to come to me;) Since my target set to myself was to donate blood once a year, i did not go all the way to PDN to donate it, because my
company actually held it once a year. I miss it last 2 years due to working on night shift--one of the rule before donating is one must have at least 5 hours of sleep, and i can't be going back to sleep and come back all the way to office to donate blood...!!??   I'm not that faithful though. But this time i can able to get hold of it, because tragically previous night was my night shift too(sigh).

Back to the blood donation day, like the normal procedure before donating, one must fill up the blood donation form for the declaration from the donors that you agree to donate your blood to the institute. Then i went in for blood pressure measurement after giving my blood certificate book to the medical officer, after that move to the next station which was blood type test, then till the last one to take my basket fill with 2 cylinders for lab test and a blood pack to fill my blood later. Then with 10 mins of squeeze and release (you will be given a thing to grab, for squeeze and released to pump your blood out), finally i filled up the 450ml blood pack with my blood. After given rest for 5 mins, they direct me to the corridor outside for free tea and a cupcake. Then whalla!!! procedure completed.

My curiosity on blood donation procedure leads me to search for info on the criteria to be met before blood donation and i would like to share it here.

Donors Criteria

1. Healthy body before donation – disease/virus free.
2. Aged between 18-60 years.
• For those aged 17 years, must obtain written permission from parents or guardians
• For those aged 61-65 years, must obtain written approval from your doctor about level of health.
3. Weight exceeding 45 kg.
4. More than 5 hours of sleep the night before the day of donation.
5. No health problems.
6. Did not take any medication

• Do not take antibiotics within 7 days before the day of donation
• Please refer to medical officer on other drugs prescription.

7. Have to eat before donating blood – no fasting required.
8. Not involved in any high risk activities as follows:
• relationship of same sex (homosexual)
• relationship with both sexes (bisexual)
• relationship with commercial sex workers / prostitutes
• Having multiple sex partners
• Taking drugs by injection
• Partner with the person with above mention relationship.
9. The last donation of at least three months for a full blood donor (whole blood), and 2 weeks for apheresis donors.
10. For women donor:
• Not pregnant.
• No period.
• Not breast-feed.
11. Do not donate blood if you:
• Ever lived in the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man or  Channel Island) or the Republic of Ireland from 1980 to 1996 for a period of six months or more
• Never lived in Europe from 1980 to the present for a period of six months or more

Blood Donation Process

Every individual who donated blood with the National Blood Centre (PDN) goes through the process of donation as follows: 

• PDN3/2000/Pin fill. 1 or 2. Any information or assistance filling out this form can be obtained from the staff on duty PDN
• Undergo a blood test to level the concentration of red blood cells (hemoglobin) and identify the ABO blood group.
• Through the questionnaire session or pre-donation counseling to identify any medical problems and the level of risk donors.
• Donors are eligible to donate blood will undergo a process of taking (phlebotomy).
• Upon completion of the recruitment process the blood, the donor will be given some food and soft drinks.

Blood donation is really a meaningful things to do. We get to help people in need of blood and we get the benefits from government. However I just need to replenish my blood once in a while to stay healthy and of course i have to make sure that I've fulfilled the criteria required before i donate. Some people just used blood donation to get the basic blood test on their current health condition--but it's just too basic and it does not covers the other important test needed for our total health condition. So it is still recommended to do your yearly test at any labs available nowadays--not so expensive though. Happy blood donation to all!!!

For more info, can always visit National Blood Centre website here.