Many emergency operations would not be possible without the ability of the doctors to replace blood lost with a blood transfusion to keep the patient alive. That is something that we take for granted, but every now and then the blood bank warns that supplies are running low and urgently appeals for donors to give blood.
The Australian Blood Bank is an entirely volunteer operation. In many countries, blood donations from the public are a source of income for donors and this brings with it the risk of people with medical reasons that make them unacceptable disguising that danger simply because they need the money. The Australian blood supply is stringently tested before it passes into hospital use.
We are facing one of those periods of low blood supply because this years flu season has been massive. About three thousand donors who are usually scheduled to give a donation have had to cancel because they are sick with the flu. The Health department estimates that this years flu season claimed about sixty thousand victims, compared with 35,538 last year. The service advises donors that they can give blood at least seven days after the last flu symptoms disappear.
It seems that human blood is strange stuff. It comes in quite a few different varieties and it is critically important that the patient in need gets the right grade. O-negative is the universal type that can be given to all patients with maximum safety, and hence the Blood Bank is urgently needing donors with O-negative blood in their veins.
Between eight and nine percent of the public are O-negative, but this blood type accounts for about fifteen percent of all hospital demand. Strangely, few people seem to know their blood type but all blood is type tested in every aspect of is journey from donor to patient.
The Blood Bank is urging those who have recovered from the flu to give urgent thought to a blood donation. It is a matter of grave concern when stocks are running low because it disrupts surgery schedules when postponement is necessary if blood supplies can not be guaranteed to supply the estimated need.
New donors would be very welcome. Many members of the public have established a commendable record of making regular donations over a long period of years and trips to the Blood Bank become something of a rite of passage. It is not an unpleasant procedure and it is usually rewarded with a cup of tea or coffee - and biscuits.
The fact that the Australian Blood Bank is entirely reliant on the good grace of the Australian public is a matter of national pride. Whenever a hospital patient needs blood, it is immediately available in this country without charge.
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