Giving Blood

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate July 2001

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In Minneapolis Christy White gives birth to a healthy baby girl without complications, or so it seemed. One hour after delivery, Christy begins to feel queasy and experiences severe abdominal pains. Christy is dying from internal bleeding. Emergency operations are conducted on Christy attempting to revive her. Christy needs 48 pints of blood, an amount equivalent to 4 times the amount her body usually holds. Christy survives her internal bleeding. What happened to Christy was a freak occurrence that no one is safe from. Fortunately, this story ended happily due to her multiple blood transfusions. However, not all stories, such as these, share the same fate. It was fortunate that the hospital Christy was located at had enough blood units to suffice her need. At many blood banks across America, a shortage of blood units exists. People of all ages should donate blood on a regular basis.

In recent years, blood shortage has surfaced as a major problem in the world of medicine.

There are many reasons for the blood shortage. First off the Donor Population is aging. The older people are now the ones who need blood instead of the ones who are able to donate blood. Another reason is such a small Percentage of population does donate blood on a regular basis. The blood donation is so small that less than 5 percent of the population eligible to give blood actually does. Some others say that there is a different Attitude for the new generation. Some have said they find blood donation inconvenient and scary thus failing to become steady donors.

Why is blood shortage such a problem some ask, well on an average day, 32,000 units of red blood cells are needed nationwide. Thousands of operations are done daily thus huge amount of people receive transfusions daily!...