donating blood

As of today, I have been withdrawn as a blood donor, after nearly passing out after my donation. I have donated blood twice, and after each time I nearly passed out. They told me that I shouldn't be donating blood if it has that impact on me, which really upset me. I had always wanted to be a blood donor because it's just a good thing to do really, plus it encourages me to remain healthy and take care of myself. I will still continue to take care of myself though because I believe it's important to do so.

Because I can no longer donate blood, I'd like to raise the option for others who are able to donate blood to do so. I believe that the rules of what age you have to be differ from country to country, so I will speak in terms of the UK blood donation system as that's the only system I have ever used.

The minimum age for blood donation in the UK is 17, and I believe that the maximum is 65, so that's a lot of time that you have to consider and possibly donate blood eventually. Although there is a huge age gap in which you can donate blood, only 4% of adults in the UK do donate blood, and considering that up to a quarter of us will require blood at least once in our lifetime, from hospitalisation after an accident, childbirth or a necessary operation. So, with only 4% of people giving blood, and 25% of us needing it at some point during our lives, there's a huge gap between who gives blood and who needs it. With red blood cells having a shelf life of about 35 days, it's obvious that blood stocks constantly have to be replenished, meaning that the more people who donate blood the better.

On average, one blood donation will help three people, through a blood transfusion, or to advance medical knowledge in which they use blood donations to test for things such as possible cures for diseases. So, although I have only donated blood twice, I could have potentially helped six people, which is just great to think.

There are some rules of giving blood, and some people who simply cannot donate blood either due to diseases, pregnancy, or certain sexual activities. While the last point can cause a angered response in some people, it important that only healthy blood is given to people who need it, and so if someone knows they have had sex with someone who could potentially have a certain sexually transmitted disease and they have received that disease, they will be unable to donate blood.

Each time you donate blood, your blood is screened before being allowed to be given to a patient. The blood is screened for the presence of HIV, hepatitis B or C and a few other viruses that will negatively impact the person receiving the blood. If your blood screening shows that you have any of the viruses they have named, you will be informed, but I do not know much about that as it has not been an issue for me.

Now time for question that most people who have never donated blood before ask: does it hurt? I always give the same response to this, it does hurt a bit, however it's not the kind of pain that lasts, it simply feels like someone is pinching the skin on the inside of your elbow quite hard for about three to five seconds. After that, I don't even feel the needle in my arm and just tend to enjoy being able to relax. I listened to music and played games on my phone during my donations so kept myself occupied and entertained so didn't feel anything at all.

Some other questions that people tend to ask are: doesn't blood make you feel sick? or, what if I don't stop bleeding? The answer to the second question is simple, the people who take blood during donations are trained and know how to stop you from bleeding, however if you don't stop bleeding they would know what to do as they are trained to deal with all sorts of situations. The first question about feeling sick around blood is slightly more difficult to answer- it depends on the person. It's well known by my friends and family that I dislike blood and feel faint when I am around it or see it, but when I donate blood, I will happily be able to look at my blood, but for some people, even walking into the blood donation room is enough to cause them to pass out.

The possible final question that you may ask is: so why did you pass out? To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure, in all honesty, I think that I just don't cope well with losing a lot of blood, because I think I go into shock from blood loss a lot more quickly than some people, but that's okay, I've done what I could, and I'm glad that I did.

I think the thing that motivated me to donate blood the most was the thought of 'if I need blood one day, I'd want someone to donate blood for me to be able to use, so I should do the same while I can'.