Category Archives: Health Information

June 2, 2011 · 9:30 am

Never Too Old to Donate

Some of you may know, others may wonder, and I am here to confirm that in order to donate blood you must be 17 years of age or 16 with a parental consent form.

Often times when donors hear there is a minimum age requirement for donating blood, they proceed to ask what the maximum age requirement is.

It seems typical for older healthy people to stop donating blood for a variety of reasons, either because they think they are too old or fear health problems will impede. However, one is never too old to donate blood, there is no maximum age cap.

Louis Kerker of Bakersfield, California is living proof that age should not stop you from donating blood. Kerker celebrated his 100th birthday on February 12th and donated blood two days later. This was just another day for Kerker. He became a regular blood donor after the attacks of September 11th.   

The large number of baby boomers are beginning to reach the “traditional” retirement age of 65. Baby boomers are expected to live longer lives and require more public and health services. With this being said, many of these baby boomers will become blood recipients. Therefore, if eligible, baby boomers should not shy away from donating because they have reached a certain age.

If 100-year-old Louis Kerker donates blood, why can’t you?

Make an appointment to donate blood today at DonorPoint.org and tomorrow… You’ll have someone’s undying gratitude.

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March 17, 2011 · 9:30 am

Rare Blood

Has your blood ever been categorized as rare? Have you ever heard of rare blood? Yes? No?

Well listen up. Because rare blood is rare, it is crucial that everyone is aware of this term. There are more patients than you may think that require rare blood in order to survive, so please listen carefully.

Some patients’ blood has specific red cell antibodies that make finding a matched red cell unit a challenge. Simply put, when these patients need a transfusion, the basic A, B, O and Rh negative or positive designation are not enough. Additional layers of matching are required.

In order to supply blood to patients with these special needs, Indiana Blood Center’s laboratory identifies those people whose blood has special characteristics which may aid in supplying matched blood to patients with special needs. 

For a patient with red cell antibody to receive blood products, the blood must lack the matching antigen.

A good way to describe this is by using a lock and key example. The antibody is the key. The antigen is the lock. A red cell antigen is specific marker that may be found on the red cell portion of blood.

The frequency an antigen occurs in the general population indicates how rare a donor may be. 

If the antigen and antibody match, the patient may have a reaction to the blood. What we do is provide blood that does not have the matching antigen to prevent the patient from having a reaction to the transfusion of blood.

If you have been flagged as a rare donor at Indiana Blood Center, every time you donate, your red cells are delivered to the Reference Laboratory to be made available for these special patients. 

We encourage you to donate as often as possible. The types of patients who generally receive rare red cell products are frequently transfused cancer patients and patients with sickle-cell anemia. These patients often need a blood transfusion, so it is critical to have rare blood available at all times. 

If the rarity of your red cell antigens meets the criteria, we may also register you as a rare donor with the national rare donor database, called the American Rare Donor Program (ARDP).

Indiana Blood Center thanks everyone who donates and asks those donors whose blood is classified as rare to think about those in desperate need of their rare blood in order to survive.

Make an appointment to donate blood today at DonorPoint.org and tomorrow… You’ll have someone’s undying gratitude.

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March 10, 2011 · 9:30 am

Easy as 1, 2, 3

Some of you may have the blood donation process down pat, but for those of you who do not, let me give you the play-by-play. And may I add, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Before Your Donation

Make an Appointment – Indiana Blood Center accepts walk-ins, you can make your donation process easy and convenient by going to DonorPoint.org to make an appointment today.

Hydrate – Make sure to drink lots of fluids the day of your appointment.

Bring a Picture ID – In order to donate blood, a picture ID is required.

During Your Donation

Registration - If you are a first-time donor you will show your picture ID. If you have already donated you will can use the fingerprint identification method. You will be given a Donor Registration Form (DRF) to complete, which collects general information from you.

Health History & Mini-Physical – An Indiana Blood Center technician will ask you a list of questions regarding your health history. Your responses are kept confidential. After all of the questions are answered, the staff member will check your temperature, pulse and blood pressure.

Donation – An Indiana Blood Center technician will cleanse the area of your arm from which he/she is drawing blood. Once a pint of blood is collected the donation process is complete and the technician will bandage your arm.

Refresh - After your donation, you are asked to sit in the refreshment area to eat a snack and drink water, soda or juice. Indiana Blood Center recommends sitting in the refresh area for 10-15 minutes before leaving.

Be Proud – Donating to Indiana Blood Center means that you’ll have someone’s undying gratitude.

After Your Donation

Hydrate - When giving blood you lose whole blood, meaning the plasma, platelets and red cells. Be sure to stay hydrated so you can readily replenish the fluids lost.

Relax - Steer clear of any heavy weight-lifting or strenuous exercise after your donation.

Check Your Vitals – After 24 hours, go to DonorPoint.org to see all of your vitals that were taken the day of your donation.

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March 8, 2011 · 9:30 am

Deferred Donation Clinic

In a perfect world every person would be eligible to donate blood, but like I said, in a perfect world.

In a real world, potential donors are deferred and become ineligible to donate blood, for several different reasons that seem to vary quite frequently.

For example, Canadian Blood Services reject donations from people (including vegetarians) who spent more than three months in the U.K. and France between Jan. 1, 1980 to Dec. 31, 1996. The reason being is variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, also known as mad cow disease, spread through the U.K. and France within the above time period. Unfortunately this restriction limits plenty of healthy Canadians from donating blood.

NetCAD, the Network Centre for Applied Development is a clinic at the University of British Columbia that collects blood for research from all those who are deferred from donating for the purpose of transfusions. They call this clinic a deferred donation clinic.

The purpose of blood research is to improve the quality of blood products blood centers provide to hospitals and to come up with ways to extend the shelf life of all blood products.

Dr. Dana Devine, vice-president of Medical, Scientific and Research Affairs for Canadian Blood Services and a UBC professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Centre for Blood Research, states she is very excited about pathogen reduction, a new technological advancement that will involve killing pathogens in blood products.
 
“Unfortunately, it won’t work for mad cow disease but works for viruses, bacteria and parasites. It would really change the game because we could treat a red cell or platelet donation after we prepared it and we could have a high level of confidence that it couldn’t transmit anything–even stuff we don’t know about yet,” Devine said.
 
Enough about mad cow disease. Let’s try to make this a perfect world where everyone donates blood! Make an appointment today and tomorrow… you’ll have someone’s undying gratitude.

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March 1, 2011 · 9:30 am

Dr. Dan Waxman: Indiana Blood Center Exec & ABC President

Dr. Dan Waxman

The leadership at Indiana Blood Center plays an important role on the national stage.

Indiana Blood Center‘s Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Dan Waxman, also serves as the President of America’s Blood Centers (ABC).

Indiana Blood Center is honored and privileged to have Dr. Waxman on their staff, given his clinical knowledge and prestigious resume.

Dr. Waxman also holds the position of Clinical Professor of Pathology at Indiana University Medical Center.

Dr. Waxman received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan, followed by his medical degree from the University of Kansas.

After completing a Pathology Residency and a Fellowship in Transfusion Medicine, Dr. Waxman held positions at the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City, BloodCare in Dallas and was the Chief Executive Officer of the Southeastern Michigan Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross in Detroit.

Dr. Waxman is directly responsible for all clinical aspects of Indiana Blood Center, including our donor/patient services, transplant compatibility lab, immunohematology lab and determination of medical suitability for community blood donors.

We are proud to call Dr. Waxman one of our own!

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