Good morning people. Today I wish to put forward a speech in front of you on the topic ‘blood donation’, and I wish your full co-operation throughout the time that I will be presenting. Also kindly pardon me for any mistake that I commit in this course.
Blood runs in all our bodies. Mines and yours too. Sometimes there are such critical situations where one falls in need of blood. Only vampires are not the ones who need blood…we need it too even though we are not vampires, or there maybe one between us. Who knows? Joke apart. There can be emergencies where you might need blood.
Every person has a different blood group. The blood groups are- A positive, B positive, AB positive, O positive, O negative, AB negative, B negative and A negative. To receive blood from someone the blood groups needs to match between the donor and the accepter.
You cannot just give blood to any person you like. Proper tests have to be made to determine that the blood groups are matching to donate the blood. Quite surprisingly a person with O negative blood is called to be a universal donor, although he cannot be a universal recipient.
He has to receive blood from an O negative blood group only. On the other hand a person with AB negative blood is called to be universal recipient. He can accept blood from all blood groups, but he can donate blood to only AB positive blood group.
What happens if you are transfused with a blood that does not match your blood type?
If the person is given a blood of any other group, he may die out of incompatibility reaction. A person with type A blood receiving a transfusion of type B or AB blood would have an ABO incompatibility reaction. In an ABO incompatibility reaction the immune system of a person attacks the new blood cells entering the body and destroys them. Your body becomes its own enemy.
It is also called an ‘acute hemolytic transfusion reaction’. It kills people. Maximum hospitals are careful in this matter. But mismatches do occur. In 2013, an 84-year-old woman died after being given the wrong blood type in a transfusion.
Hence to stop this problem of blood mismatch and the problem of finding a matching blood group during the time of emergency, government has developed blood banks. In such blood banks you can get blood of any type, of any group in the time of emergency.
But what is the source of this blood bank? It is us. It is us who donates blood to these blood banks. Donating blood is a noble work. It is a matter of social service.
But there are certain rules before donating blood. You cannot donate blood if you are underweight. A person having a weight of less than 110 pounds or 50 kgs cannot donate blood. He cannot tolerate the volume of blood that will be taken away. Hence it is necessary to observe these rules.
Blood donation camps are arranged by local clubs, local institutions and NGO’s. It is the responsibility of every individual to donate blood responsibly once you become an adult that is when you cross 18 years. You can even go to a blood bank to give blood instead of waiting for a blood donation camps.
Some people believe that these blood donation banks do not use proper equipments and sterile needles. There remains some chance to get infected with diseases such as aids by the use of infected needles and all. There is a rule that if you are a blood donor and you have certificate to prove it, then later in case of emergency if you need blood, you can get the first batch of blood free of cost
Such a blood donation camp had been arranged in my school too and I participated in it. Firstly I was very excited and nervous and scared about it. The local hospital had been contacted and the doctors had come to collect blood from the donors. I waited patiently for my turn to come.
When my turn finally came my weight was checked. And I was asked about my blood group and whether I had any diseases or not and whether I had donated blood before or not. Then I was made to lie down on a bed and the doctor told me to close my eyes and breathe deeply.
He produced a big syringe which really shook the guts out of me. Still I calmed myself down. The needle was attached to a small bag was which was supposed to contain my blood. After injecting the needle the doctor told me to clench my fist and open it continuously so as to pump blood into the bag.
Trust me or not the entire process was quite painless, unlike my imagination. After the bag was filled, he attended my arm and checked for a blood clot. Later I received a food packet containing healthy foods like egg, fruits milk etc which would make up for the blood that I lost.
Also I was given certificates and a memento stating that I am a blood donor now. I felt very happy thinking that I have done something to help others in need.