Who needs blood transfusions? Where does all the blood go?

[Cazzle]

My dad received six units when he was diagnosed as anaemic. They believe he had a bleed somewhere in his bowel but were never able to find where. He had to be monitored closely for several years until he stabilised. He had donated several times in his youth so he likes to joke about withdrawing his deposits from the blood bank.

I tried to donate but I’m on “permanent deferral” because I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 20 years ago.

[SuperAbe]

@nearwildheaven

PRBCs (packed red blood cells - blood with most of the plasma and other cells centrifuged off) are usually given a unit at a time, as are other fractions. Whole blood is not, unless the rules have changed on that.

Possibly - hadn’t considered whole blood transfusions (WB usage has become a pretty rare beast in most big US hospital systems).

@nearwildheaven

No, my friend probably won’t need blood for her hysterectomy, but the panniculectomy? Ooooooohhhhhh, yeah.

Maybe, but most even massive paniculectomy procedures don’t require transfusions these days- this paper says only 9% of such cases did (though the number was higher with other comorbidities).

[gkster]

The two family members who I know have received blood are my mother, who had a profusely bleeding ulcer and anemia; she must have been given around 12 units. My brother-in-law also had a bleeding ulcer and was given 7 units.

The blood bank where I usually donate has a record of all my donations accessible online, and I’m up to 3+ gallons, as well as 6 platelet donations. The last time I gave I felt OK afterwards which was a lot better than the 2-3 times before that when I felt really drained. That’s also the reason I haven’t given platelets for several years now–the last couple of times I did it I felt sick (weak, shaky, lightheaded) during and after the procedure.

[Bill_Door]

Since February of 2014 I’ve been receiving emails from the Red Cross specifying where my blood has been used. I only get them when my blood has been used by a patient; the format is

“After first ensuring that local needs were met, your blood donation was sent to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA to help a patient in need. Your donation is on its way to changing lives!”

In the case of a double red donation the format is

After first ensuring local needs were met, your double red cell donation was sent to Northside Hospital - Cherokee in Canton, GA and UAB Health System in Birmingham, AL to help patients in need. Your donation is on its way to changing lives!

There are 11 emails which account for 15 units of red blood cells used by patients. The Red Cross blood app states that I’ve donated 20 units of red blood cells in that time frame, so I can deduce that three quarters of the blood I’ve donated has been used by patients and that one fourth of the time it is used for research or is eventually discarded for being too old to use.

It has been used as close as 11 miles from my house; and as far away as 563 miles, and about half the time double red donations are split up and go to different patients.

My blood type is O positive, the most common type in the US, and is appropriate for around 40% of all patients. That may affect usage rates.