Case Study On Blood Transfusion

Our nation has a major blood shortage which results in a national health crisis. States all over the nation are reporting the need for blood donors and the importance of having donors to help those who are directly affected. There has been a recent rise in shortage due to the increased demand of high complex surgeries which require a large supply of blood. McMillan reports, “just one liver transplant can take 120 units of donated blood” (Zabarenko, 2016). It is imperative to bring attention to this social problem, and begin to search for possible solutions, as well as identifying gaps in the policy before seeking policy revision. Experts indicate that “the only solution is for this problem is to persuade people to become donors” (Nagourney, 2009).

In 1667, Jean-Baptiste Denis from France reported transfusing blood from lambs into human, which was later declared illegal. An American physician, from Philadelphia, performed the first human to human blood transfusion but did not report it when he did so in 1795. James Blundell, a british obstetrician, successfully performed a transfusion for a patient with postpartum hemorrhage in 1818 and later performed 10 more and half were successful. In 1840, Samuel Armstrong Lane helped with the first transfusion to treat hemophilia and in 1867, and English surgeon named Joseph Lister used antiseptics to reduce the risk of infections during transfusions. In 1900 an Austrian physician discovered the first 3 human blood groups, A, B, and C that was later renamed O. Hepatitis B was found in blood n 1971 so testing on donor blood began and in 1985, the first blood screening test for HIV was licensed and used in blood banks around the world to protect the supply of blood.

A blood transfusion is the act of giving red blood cells to a patient through an IV.

In a publication of the Stanford University School of Medicine, held an article entitled “Against the Flow—What’s Behind the Decline in Blood Transfusions?” The author of that article, Sarah C. P. Williams, stated: “Over the past decade, a growing body of research has revealed that in hospitals around the world, donated blood is used more often, and in larger quantities, than is needed to help patients—both in operating rooms and hospital

Society has taught that they are to abstain from blood transfusions since this was considered to be “eating blood”

This screening test “became the first available to screen blood donations, which had been a primary source of Hepatitis B infections”, subsequently decreasing the incidence of blood transfusion transmission by 25% (Anderson). About two billion people are infected worldwide with Hepatitis B and approximately 1.5 million deaths occur yearly. “The vaccine has been 95% effective in preventing the disease”

The traditional process for transfusions has been widely acknowledged as a successful part of the medicinal process, but most people are unaware of the shortcomings of blood transfusions. For example, donated blood is only useful for a maximum of forty-two days of shelf-life, even with the use of nutritional additives. (Lowe 1) Although the demand for blood can be high at times, it is unpredictable how much will be needed or of what blood type. This means that a good amount of blood will inevitably have to be discarded without being used. An ideal blood substitute would have a long shelf life, so that it could be used without waste. The most current artificial bloods have a shelf life of about a year, about eight times traditional blood (Sakar). Another downfall of traditional transfusions is the struggle for compatibility and donor safety. Each donor and recipient match must be tested for blood type and by cross matching blood samples. Not enough people donate blood in the first place, and each person must be tested to make sure that they are disease free, or have not done anything risking their blood’s health in the past. Artificial blood would be a perfect match with all blood types and bodies, eliminating the need for the hassle of having to use donors altogether. (Nielson) An alternative to traditional blood would allow certain groups of people with religious restrictions, such as

    Blood pathogens can be specifically dangerous for those who received an organ donor or a blood transfusion before July 1992. Children are at risk for having hepatitis C if their mother had it. Those who received a blood clotting treatment before 1987 are at risk as well for having hepatitis

The safety and efficacy of the blood products given to the sick, injured, or dying recipients is the driving force behind the decision making process of blood donor eligibility, including the decision to not allow men who have sex with men to donate blood due to the higher than average risk for this group of people of transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during sexual activity.

Blood-stream infections affect more than 700,000 in the U.S. resulting in a healthcare cost of $20 billion annually. The current standard is to administer multiple general antibiotics first, followed by a blood culture to identify the infecting bacteria. This method takes days and puts the patient at risk because these general antibiotics are not often effective due to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Doctors overmedicate hospital patients due to the wait time for infection analysis. This excessive medication has led to the deaths of patients. Instead of doing lab analysis, the rapid diagnostic device receive the blood sample, analyze whether the type of infection, and report the effective medications. This would prevent the prescription

Magnussen, K, 2012, Ethical Aspects of Blood Donors and the Recipients of Their Blood, Accessed 06 August 2014, <http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jbt/2012/606753/>

Commercial plasma businesses have created a host of severe public health problems and after- effects. Not only are are blood donors contracting this disease from the poor sanitation and lack of responsible HIV testing, but it also indirectly impacting the health of families and hospital patients. Since the symptoms of HIV are not immediately detected, the infection can be transmitted to sexual partners, and even blood transfusions in hospitals. HIV prevalence is 15.1% among former plasma donors and 4.8% among non-donors, demonstrating that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has also spread to non-donors (Ji et al. 2006).

Blood Bank services are a key component of the healthcare system all over the world and a well organised Blood Transfusion Service is a vital component of any health care delivery system and yet the study and the analysis of such systems from a supply chain perspective have been a few especially in India. The National Blood Policy of India aims to ensure easily accessible and adequate supply of safe and quality blood and blood components, which is free from transfusion transmitted infections, and is stored and transported under optimum conditions.

62 Griffith University students, 35 female and 27 male age 18 – 30 were asked to participate in our survey. Respondents had to fill out 20 questions which included demographic questions on age, gender and nationality as well as questions regarding awareness, attitude and actual behaviour towards blood donation. The quantitative data from our survey was entered into

According to the NHS 120,000 fewer people joined the blood donor register in 2014-15 than in 2004-05. This is significant sd it means there is a lack of volume and variation of blood. Throughout this brief I will consider the current system, mark out areas in need of improvement and consider alternatives to combat these increasing blood donation in the UK.