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safety first Amazing stories Putting safety first Blood group basics Blood around the world Components of blood Current blood stocks Did you know History of blood transfusion How blood is used Blood transfusion We take the safety of blood very seriously. That's why we need to keep on asking all those questions every time you donate. Safer blood also means tests and treatments once the blood is donated - and properly trained staff as well. Which is where Hugh Laurie comes in... What on earth is Hugh Laurie doing on the front cover of The Donor magazine (Autumn 2002)? Well you see, he's starring with Imelda Staunton in a video about blood safety, made for hospital staff. Hugh and Imelda play an array of roles to demonstrate the common errors that can cause problems for patients receiving blood transfusions. But even if the video is designed to make hospital staff smile, the message is a serious one. We take no chances with blood safety, and have extremely tight procedures, tests and controls to make sure donated blood is as safe as possible. The record is exceptionally good. Last year patients received over three million units of blood and blood products. Out of these, hospitals reported only 315 transfusion-related problems. Of these, 213 were caused by human error at the hospital, 96 were patients experiencing some form of reaction against the 'foreign' blood and only six were due to an infection transmitted from the transfusion. Although these figures are low, we are constantly working to reduce them further. Questions, questions! All donors give their blood for free - This is the first major step towards safe blood. Many of you ask 'why do you ask us all those questions before we give blood'? The answer is very simple. It helps us to ensure you will not become unwell after donating, and to choose 'safer' donors. Regular donors are especially important to us, as we know their history (sorry, you still have to answer all the questions though!) Wading through the questions can be frustrating but your answers allow us to defer donors who have a higher risk of carrying a blood borne infection, because of their lifestyle, medical or travel history. Not all infections make you feel unwell, and until your body has produced antibodies or enough of the virus to be detected, the blood safety tests back in our labs will not reveal their presence. This gap between exposure and the test picking it up is known as the 'window period'. If your answers suggest you may have been exposed to infection, we will defer you. Another infection risk comes from the bacteria found on skin. Allowing those bugs, although harmless to you, to get into the donation could be fatal to a patient. Hence the careful arm-cleaning. Even the collection pack has safety devices attached to it. Next time you give blood take a look. There's a pouch that prevents the tiny piece of skin from the needle and the first few drops of blood from getting into the bag. Another attachment is the filter, this at a later stage removes white cells from the blood. This is an additional precautionary safety measure. Each time you give blood we take blood samples for safety tests back in our labs. These tests look for infections that can be passed from donor to patient. The blood is kept in a quarantine fridge until all the tests are completed with negative results. Then the blood is labelled with its blood group and becomes ready for issue to the hospital. The packs we use are sealed, which means the contents are not exposed until they are transfused. Not only that, throughout their life they are stored in a suitable environment that is temperature controlled. The right temperature is important to help keep the cells alive, inhibit bacterial growth, and help the filters to work. After your donation, you still play a vital part in blood safety. Please contact us if you develop any illness (except a simple cold) within two weeks of giving blood. So, for example, if you come down with a stomach bug, it's possible that the infection was in your blood when you donated. It could potentially harm the patient who receives your blood so we must trace your donation and hopefully stop it being used for transfusion. Computer tracking We can easily find it by using PULSE, our computer system which tracks the progress of a pack of blood from the time it leaves your arm to the time it is transfused to a patient. This is all possible because of the unique donation number, which is issued at a session. Our operational procedures make sure the labels with this number and bar code are correctly placed on the blood bag and samples. Of course all of these procedures, tests and checks are controlled by UK and EU guidelines. We are also regularly checked by government inspectors. The safety of our donors and our blood is extremely important. So next time we ask you 'all those questions' please remember, it's both for your benefit and that of the patient whose life you are helping to save. View Current Blood Stocks Sarajane's
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