The Flow of Life
Imagine a young girl is injured in a car accident and her mother dies instantly. The young girl is still alive but she needs to have a blood transfusion within minutes in order to save her life. The only problem is that the nearest hospital does not have enough blood reserves and the next closest hospital is too far away. This situation may sound farfetched but it could actually happen to anybody. According to Carolyn Gard, a writer for Current Health 2, "ninety-seven percent of the people in the United States will receive blood at some point in their lives" (Gard 28). A serious problem that Americans face today is the shortage of a reserve blood supply for emergency situations. Unfortunately, fewer than 5 percent of people who are eligible to donateblood actually take the time to do it (Feiman 17). People have many common misconceptions which lead them to refuse donating blood. Many people do not believe that their donation will make a difference. Also, many believe that donating blood carries certain risks, such as contracting AIDS and other diseases. Others are scared that the procedure of donating blood is painful. People who are eligible to donate blood should do so because the process is risk free, virtually pa
For instance, students at Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York, turned their gym into a blood donating center. The body replaces lost fluids withing 24 hoursand red blood cells are replaced in six to eight weeks (Feiman 18). Theprocess takes about 10 minutes to retrieve a pint of blood and then the patient is usually givencookies and juice to replenish his or her strength. Blood is the one of aspect of life that seems to unite everyone around the world. Unfortunately, the person that needs blood could be put inthe same situation as the little girl who died because there were not enough available bloodreserves. The donor is also asked to fill out aform about his or her general health condition (Gard 28). It is the one thing that we all share as ahuman race and it is vital to our survival. The process of giving blood is actually very simple. Obviously, these are common misconceptions. If 100 pints of blood can save up to500 people and each person donates just one pint, then that person can save up to five peoplewith each donation. Another fear that isassociated with the donation of blood is that the donor is at risk of contracting AIDS and otherdiseases. "The technician scrubs your arm, finds the vein, and inserts theneedle, which will cause only a little discomfort for a very short period of time (Gard 28). Theequipment that is used to draw blood is not only disposable but also sterile. After donating a pint of blood, theaverage person still has 8 to 12 pints left, which is plenty of blood to maintain life (Feiman 18). Also, the site atwhich the blood is taken from the donor is cleansed thoroughly.
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