How To Donate

Donation

How to donate Not every one knows that Safety and testing

Those who intend to become a donor’s blood may go to a home or an Avis assembly center or transfusion service of the hospital in their city.

Interview with the doctor

The interview will help to establish the suitability and to identify what kind of donations is more appropriate : whole blood or apheresis.

After the medical examination will be carried out the blood sample necessary for the laboratory examinations required to accept the suitability of the gift.

Ascertained the suitability the new donor will be invited to make the first donation.

Clinical evaluation and signing of the acceptance form and consent to donation.

For every donation the doctor first perform a clinical evaluation of the donor (heart rate, blood pressure, hemoglobin ), then the interview for the detection of any situations that make the donation so contraindicated for the safety of the donor and one of the receiving ( including risk behaviors occurred from last donation) and finally he will require the signature of the donor’s consent to donation.

The morning of the blood collection it is preferable to be fasting or doing a light breakfast with fresh fruit or juice, tea or coffee with a little bit of sugar, not flavored bread or other simple carbohydrates.

Woman who have ongoing contraceptive therapy should not discontinue the daily intake.

The blood collection

The whole blood collection is absolutely harmless for the donor and has a duration of about 5-8 minutes.

The maximum volume of blood collected, established by law, is equal to 450 cubic centimeters +/- 10%.

After the blood collection

After the blood collection a refreshment is offered to replenish fluids and improve the comfort after donation. To employees is recognized by law a paid working day.

Examinations required for each donation and periodic inspections.

For every donation the donor and the blood collected are subjected to the following test:

emocromocitometico comprehensive examination
transaminases ALT with optimized method
serodiagnosis for Lue
HIV 1-2 (for AIDS)
HBsAg (for hepatites B)
HCVAb and viral constituents (for hepatitis C)
Confirmation of blood group (A B 0) and Rh factor

At the first donation are determined:

A B 0
Full Rh phenotype
Kell
Search of irregular anti-erythrocyte antibodies

The time interval between a donation and the other

The minimum interval between a whole blood donation and the other is 90 days.

Normally, therefore, men can donate whole blood 4 times in a year, instead woman 2 times (in a year).

Woman can’t donate blood during menstruation or pregnancy, and for a year after giuing birth.

The safety of transfused blood components (whole blood, red blood cells, platelets,plasma) constitutes the primary goal that the National Health Service and the transfusioners were imposed.

It is the security tool through which the health of donors and patients are protected.

Laboratory investigations have, among others, three main purposes:

Check the matching blood group
Exclude the transmission of infectious diseases
Safeguard the health of the donor

Centrifugation and separation of blood components

Are thus obtained:

· a red blood cell bag;

· a plasma bag;

· buffy-coat ( leukocytes and platelets)

Processing (centrifugation and separation of the blood compontents)

The blood is composted by different weight elements, a liquid part (plasma) and a corpuscular part (cell), made up of red blood cells or erythrocytes, white blood cells or leukocytes, platelets.

By centrifugation we proceed to the separation of the elements : red blood cells, leukocytes with platelets (buffy-coat) and plasma, that are transferred into special pockets attached sterilely to the mother bag.

The 3 products derived from the centrifugation are kept at the most suitable temperature for their maintenance, but they can not be used until the phase of biological validation does not make it available for the assignment.

Validation

The validation stages before the assignment.

The three blood components obtained from the laboratory test have established the ability to use.

The serum-virological test carried out are aimed at exposing the possible presence of infections agent such as viruses cause of hepatitis B or C, the lue and HIV. In laboratory investigations are used sophisticated, high sensitivity, including those in molecular biology wich, combined with the careful selection of donor and wise use of blood components, today allow you to define a residual risk for these diseases in order of a possible infection of hundreds of thousands or even millions of donations.

Blood is indispensable

The blood is indispensable:

in the first aid services and emergency services
in surgeries and organ transplants
in the treatment of oncological diseases
in the various forms of chronic anemia

The demands for blood and blood components not only occurs in the presence of conditions or exceptional events such as earthquakes, disasters or accidents, or during surgery, but also in the treatment of serious diseases such as cancer, leukemia, chronic anemia, transplants of organs and tissues,…..

The blood, with its components, is for many patients a single factor and irreplaceable survival:

white blood cells for the care of leukemia, tumors
red blood cells for the care of anemia, bleedings
plasma derivatives factor VIII and IX for hemophilia A and B, non-specific immunoglobulins for immunological diseases, albumin of some liver diseases and bowel.

For each collection unit, whether it is whole blood, plasma or platelets or other blood components, are carried out laboratory investigations, acts to assess its suitability to be transfused, and precisely:

blood exam completed for the study of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets
transaminases ALT (for me study of the liver)
serodiagnosis for the lue or syphilis
HIV Ab 1-2 (for AIDS)
HBs Ag (for hepatitis B)
HCV Ab and viral constituents search of the HCV (for hepatitis C)
checks and determination of blood type and Rh factor

According to regulation in the field transfusion fact, no units may be distributed unless it has been tested for the first detectable viral diseases transmissible today.

The regular donor, in addition to the above test, each year must be subjected to the following test: creatinine, glycemia, proteinemia, sideremia, cholesterol, triglyceridies, ferritin.

Today, national security is based on:

use regular donors and aware
execution of the tests available for the detection of major communicable infectious agents
good use of blood

Self-exclusion of the donation

Without prejudice to checks carried out on each unit collected and the help of transfusionsta donor, bound by professional secrecy, to clarify and evaluate specific situations, it is right to exclude themselves for those who have personal history:

drug intake
sexual intercourse at high risk of infectious diseases (for example casual relationships, for a fee, with unknown people, promiscuous)
hepatitis or jaundice
venereal illnesses
positivity for syphilis test (TPHA or VDRL)
positivity for the AIDS test (anti-HIV1)
positivity for the hepatitis B test (HBsAg)
positivity for the hepatitis C test (anti-HCV)
sexual relations with persons in the conditions included in the list

The self-exclusion of the donation takes place without having to give explanations to anyone.