Today is being observed as World Blood Donor day under the theme "donors with healthy lifestyles give safe blood."
As part of today's observance the Ministry of Health and the Blood Donors Service held ceremonies at the Central Medical Lab where the act of giving and receiving blood was highlighted. But more than that, the blood donor service opened the doors to a new facility that promises to improve service to blood donors. Alfonso Noble found out more.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
With Minister of Health Hon. Vildo Marin cutting the ribbon, the Belize Blood Donor Service and the Ministry of Health opened the doors to their new offices that Joy Charlie, the supervisor of the Blood Bank, says will have customers attended to in a more user friendly environment.
Joy Charlie, Belize Blood Bank
"This is a very big step that we have taken. We are becoming a much more user friendly place for our donors to give blood. Our donors are much more comfortable. They don't have to walk three flights of stairs. We have an air-conditioned waiting area and we have more couches to deal with more people at a time so overall it's much better."
And Charlie says that the need to serve donors better is absolutely necessary because of the critical need that the health system has for blood.
Joy Charlie, Belize Blood Bank
"It is critical that we have blood at times of emergencies. But we cannot wait until we have an accident or so to get in donors because we have to screen donors, see if they are able to give blood, collect the blood, and then we also have to screen the bags of blood and prepare components. This is so that when our patients are in the hospital and they want blood, we have blood that are screened and ready for them to be used."
"To be a volunteer blood donor you need to have a healthy lifestyle. If by chance any donor has any medical problem, they can also assist by being a recruiter. Recruit someone to donate blood. And statistics have shown that donors that donate blood on a voluntary basis regularly are the healthier and they give the safer blood. Because you know they have a track record and their lifestyle is much better. Because giving blood is a lifestyle check. We do a personal questionnaire and our nurses check the level of your hemoglobin, she checks to see if you are okay, and she asks you health questions. Then when you pass all that then you are able to donate a unit."
Thinking I had one to spare, today I became the first to be processed at the new blood bank. It's rather simple: you fill out a quick questionnaire, the medical technician pricks your finger to determine if your blood count is high enough to spare a pint and next you're on the extraction chair. The arm is cleaned, the needle is inserted and you're on your way to giving blood, the gift of life. It's rather painless and it takes little time. But the more rewarding feature of this procedure is that you know you may be the one to save someone's life.
Blood donors can give blood every 3 months.