Essay On Blood Transfusion Process

The Blood Transfusion Process

It is stated in the National Blood Transfusion Service (2013) guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) that donor recruitment must begin from donors who belong in a low risk, safe and healthy population of a community. It is also strongly prohibited to pay any donors. The blood transfusion process is a very thorough and meticulous process to ensure the safety of the donor and the recipient of the blood unit.

Blood donor recruitment begins with the dissemination of pre-donation information. Basic information must include the following: (1) blood science; (2) importance of voluntary blood donation; (3) general information about the blood donation process and pre- and post-donation care; (4) importance

of answering honestly during the donor interview procedure; (5) the tests that follow and conducted on donor and donated unit; and (6) HIV transmission and HIV risk reduction. Donor selection is a very thorough step wherein all potential donors are assessed by authorized Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) personnel before the blood donation. The following steps are recommended for potential donors and these are: (1) Donor interview; (2) Physical examination for any jaundice, swollen glands, tattoos or body piercing marks; (3) Checking for the weight, temperature and blood pressure; and (4) Checking for haemoglobin content and blood group. In this part, the interviewer can assess the fitness of the potential donor.
The next crucial step is the blood donor acceptance. The accepted donor must be in the age group of 16-60 years old. For ages 16 and 17, they are requested to obtain a written consent form from their parents before the blood donation. For ages 60 to 65 and elderly donors, a doctor will assess their suitability to donate. Weight of donors must have an acceptable body weight of 45 kg for a 350ml blood collection and 50 kg for a 450 ml blood collection. Minimum haemoglobin of a fit donor must be 12.0 gm%. Blood pressure is also assessed and must have a systolic reading between 90 mmHg and 180 mmHg while the diastolic reading must be between 50 mmHg and 100 mmHg. On the day of the donation, the donor must have: (1) a normal body temperature; (2) free from any skin disease at the phlebotomy site of the arm; (3) last blood donation must be three (3) months ago; (4) in good health and mentally alert; (5) must not be a jail inmate or worse, a drug/alcoholic addict and lastly, the donor should have eaten something in the last eight (8) hours and slept at least five (5) hours. After successfully going through the first two (2) steps, the next is the actual blood collection or the donor phlebotomy procedure.
In the blood collection or the donor phlebotomy procedure, only trained and authorized personnel can facilitate the procedure.

It begins with the confirmation of the donor identification and blood unit identification. Then the blood unit is assigned a “unique” unit number which is used to identify the blood components, blood samples and other documentation purposes of the blood centre. Blood bags, the equipment used for phlebotomy, must fulfil the standard specifications for blood donation and must be checked for use for sterility, expiration date, and appearance of the anti-coagulant solution, any possible leakage and any defects in the

bag.
To prepare the veni-puncture site, the site where the blood would be extracted, the site should be cleaned and prepared with locally available antiseptic agent to minimize bacterial contamination.

The veni-puncture must be successfully done in the first attempt. If circumstance happens that the first veni-puncture fails, the second veni-puncture must be carried out if and only if the patient allows. Eight (8) to twelve (12) minutes must be the total blood collection time, and if the blood collection time exceeds more than 12 minutes, the blood collection will no longer be used for platelet preparation. After the blood collection, post-donation care must be given to the blood donor. Blood donors must be given fifteen (15) minutes rest post-donation and must be provided with oral fluids and post donation

instructions.