More About Blood
So for all of you who give blood and walk away with a sticker that says, "I saved a life today," it may interest you to note that you may not have, directly, saved a life. By that I only mean that there's a good chance your blood isn't going to be transfused into someone else's body.
WTF is THAT supposed to mean?
When donated whole blood gets separated into its components, the plasma (the watery yellow part) will either be labeled Transfusable Plasma (sold to hospitals for blood transfusions) or more often, Recovered Plasma, which is non-transfusable.
So they just throw most of the plasma away?
Nope, they still sell Recovered Plasma, just not to hospitals. Recovered Plasma can be used in medical research, skin graphs, military-grade advanced bandages, and various hair and skin products.
Yes, you read that right. There are store-brand lotions and shampoos which contain human plasma. And it could be yours. And they're not required to label it "contains blood." It's the creepiest thing I've learned since taking this job. I THINK that they don't just mix the plasma into the lotion... more likely the extract something from it and infuse whatever they extract into the lotion. That way they can list it as just another chemical that you don't understand.
The only time we ever throw blood away is if we fuck it up really bad. For example, if we forget to add a certain vital chemical and it's too late to fix it, or if we load a blood bag into the centerfuge wrong and it EXPLODES. *sigh* So much blood everywhere...
How do I know if I actually donated blood that'll be in a transfusion?
Here are the criteria for labeling something as Transfusable Plasma:
~Donor must be male, unless the female donor is blood type AB (positive or negative, either's fine). Apparently people getting surgery don't want our inferior lady-blood.
~Plasma should be appropriate color and consistency. No green plasma (which happens if you're on birth control, take certain vitamins, or have a bacterial infection in your blood. seriously. GREEN), red plasma (hemolized, means your red cells are damaged and the hemoglobin's leaking out into the plasma), or milkshake-looking plasma (lypemia, or "fatty fatty fat-fat").
~Plasma needs to be processed and then frozen within twenty-four hours of phlebotomy. Sometimes we have a LOT of blood to work with, and stuff doesn't always get done in the time it should. Also we're at the mercy of when we receive the shipments of blood. Usually we only have about 6-8 hours left by the time we get it.
So why should I even bother donating blood if I know it won't help anyone? Why take the chance that my plasma ends up in someone's shampoo?
Okay, so remember I said you wouldn't be saving a life directly? The Blood Services department of the American Red Cross don't actually get most of their money from donations, or investors, or that extra change you gave some red cross lady with a can that said, "Save Haiti." They get it from selling blood.
The centerfuge that separates transfusable plasma, the computer that enters it into the database, the freezer that keeps it from going bad, the paychecks of all the people who take care of this, etc, is all paid for by selling blood. So without recovered plasma, transfusable plasma doesn't get taken care of the way it should. So there you go. Donate blood.
But what if you've now made me really paranoid that I'm shampooing with human plasma?
Welcome to the future!
WTF is THAT supposed to mean?
When donated whole blood gets separated into its components, the plasma (the watery yellow part) will either be labeled Transfusable Plasma (sold to hospitals for blood transfusions) or more often, Recovered Plasma, which is non-transfusable.
So they just throw most of the plasma away?
Nope, they still sell Recovered Plasma, just not to hospitals. Recovered Plasma can be used in medical research, skin graphs, military-grade advanced bandages, and various hair and skin products.
Yes, you read that right. There are store-brand lotions and shampoos which contain human plasma. And it could be yours. And they're not required to label it "contains blood." It's the creepiest thing I've learned since taking this job. I THINK that they don't just mix the plasma into the lotion... more likely the extract something from it and infuse whatever they extract into the lotion. That way they can list it as just another chemical that you don't understand.
The only time we ever throw blood away is if we fuck it up really bad. For example, if we forget to add a certain vital chemical and it's too late to fix it, or if we load a blood bag into the centerfuge wrong and it EXPLODES. *sigh* So much blood everywhere...
How do I know if I actually donated blood that'll be in a transfusion?
Here are the criteria for labeling something as Transfusable Plasma:
~Donor must be male, unless the female donor is blood type AB (positive or negative, either's fine). Apparently people getting surgery don't want our inferior lady-blood.
~Plasma should be appropriate color and consistency. No green plasma (which happens if you're on birth control, take certain vitamins, or have a bacterial infection in your blood. seriously. GREEN), red plasma (hemolized, means your red cells are damaged and the hemoglobin's leaking out into the plasma), or milkshake-looking plasma (lypemia, or "fatty fatty fat-fat").
~Plasma needs to be processed and then frozen within twenty-four hours of phlebotomy. Sometimes we have a LOT of blood to work with, and stuff doesn't always get done in the time it should. Also we're at the mercy of when we receive the shipments of blood. Usually we only have about 6-8 hours left by the time we get it.
So why should I even bother donating blood if I know it won't help anyone? Why take the chance that my plasma ends up in someone's shampoo?
Okay, so remember I said you wouldn't be saving a life directly? The Blood Services department of the American Red Cross don't actually get most of their money from donations, or investors, or that extra change you gave some red cross lady with a can that said, "Save Haiti." They get it from selling blood.
The centerfuge that separates transfusable plasma, the computer that enters it into the database, the freezer that keeps it from going bad, the paychecks of all the people who take care of this, etc, is all paid for by selling blood. So without recovered plasma, transfusable plasma doesn't get taken care of the way it should. So there you go. Donate blood.
But what if you've now made me really paranoid that I'm shampooing with human plasma?
Welcome to the future!