BLOOD DONATION

Common Questions
faced by
Motivators in
Motivation Sessions
with Answers

Association of
Voluntary Blood Donors
West Bengal
 BLOOD DONATION
Common Questions
faced by
Motivators in
Motivation Sessions
with Answers

Association of
Voluntary Blood Donors
West Bengal
20A Fordyce Lane, Kolkata 700014, INDIA
Phone: +(91) (33) 2227 1022, 2227 7882,
Fax: +(91) (33) 2217 6677
E-mail: avbdwb@gmail.com
Web: http://www.angelfire.com/sc/avbdwb/rakta.html
 FOREWORD

T
he motivators of the Association
of Voluntary Blood Donors, West
Bengal during the last thirty
years have addressed tens of thousands
of motivation sessions. The questions
faced by them are collated in this
booklet with the answers. The
motivators should equip themselves to
answer to all these questions. The book
is published for the delegates of the
National Conference and Workshop
2010.
Collated by
Research Division
Association of Voluntary Blood Donors Ashok Mukherjee
West Bengal
Secretary
20A Fordyce Lane, Kolkata 700 014
Phone: +(91)(33)2227 1022/7882,
Fax: +(91)(33)2217 6677 January 23, 2010
E-mail: avbdwb@gmail.com
Web: http://www.angelfire.com/sc/avbdwb/rakta.html

Designed by
SALIENCE
61/10 M B Sarani, Kolkata 700040

2 3

T
here are so many
unfounded ifs and buts
against blood donation that
donor motivators should equip
themselves with appropriate polite
scientific answers.
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Q.1. Why is one not allowed to donate blood
before attaining the age of 18 years ?
Ans: Physiologically there is no harm if one
satisfies other conditions for blood donation.
18 being the age of consent in our country,
the reason is legal.
Q.2a. Can one donate blood after 60 years of age if
he/she is physically fit ?
Ans: Yes, medically speaking, there would be
nothing wrong.
Q.2b. Then why people above 60 years of age are
not allowed to donate blood in India?
Ans: With ageing, blood vessels start constricting.
Blood-letting from constricted veins may lead
to unnecessary pressure on heart resulting in
many physiological problems. It is not known
at what age blood vessels start constricting. It
varies from individual to individual.
Therefore, arbitrarily the retiring age is
considered as the age of cutoff for blood
donation.
Q.3. Can one donate blood if ones body weight is
less than 45 kg ?
Ans: Not desirable. But in extreme emergency, a
marginal difference in weight to the tune of 1
 to 2 kg is not harmful, so long as body weight
x 8 ml is above or equal to the volume of
donation.
Q.4. Why blood is not collected from a person
having a haemoglobin content of less than
12.5 gm/100ml ?
Ans: The stipulated haemoglobin content of 12.5
gm/100 ml for a donor is the standard for a
healthy person. Persons having less Hb
content than the prescribed one cannot be
treated as healthy donor having sufficient Hb
for donations and hence are not allowed to
donate blood. Further, blood weak in Hb
content does not help the patient much in
carrying oxygen to cells.
Q.5. Why 3 months interval has been stipulated
though donated blood is recuperated within
21 days ?
Ans: As an additional precautionary measure for
safety of donor.
Q.6. What physical tests are performed before
blood donation?
Ans : Weighing
Hb estimation (copper sulphate solution
method)
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Measurement of blood pressure
Checking heart beats, condition of liver,
lung and spleen.
Q.7. What laboratory tests are performed in blood
bank for each bag of collected blood?
Ans: Jaundice (Hepatitis B & C)
Malaria
HIV (AIDS) test
Venereal disease (STD)
Blood Group
Before issuing blood, compatibility tests
(cross matching) are done.
Q.8. Why the above laboratory tests are not
performed before donation ?
Ans: They are time consuming tests, and if
performed in camps before donation, there
will be excessive delay in disposal of donors,
and the disgusted donors may leave the
camps and refrain from donating blood for
ever. Besides, post donation tests are
mandatory.
Q.9. Blood is collected from a vein. Naturally, it is
rich in carbon dioxide content. What purpose
does it serve ? Why is blood not collected
 from an artery to get blood rich in oxygen
content?
Ans: Though the blood collected from a vein is
rich in carbon dioxide, it is transfused in the
vein of the recipient and is automatically
oxygenated in course of normal circulation
and therefore serves the required purpose.
Blood is not collected from artery for the
following reasons :
Veins remain in the upper surface of the body
muscle and can be easily identified while
arteries remain in the subsurfaces and
therefore cannot be easily identified.
Blood pressure in vein is low compared to
that in artery. Puncturing of artery causes
bleeding at higher pressure and velocity
leading to trouble in stopping the bleeding
after donation which is not a problem in case
of vein. It is easier to pierce a vein.
Q.10. Is there any chance of contracting blood
communicable disease by donating blood?
Ans: No, since sterilised disposable bleeding sets
are used.
Q.11. What is AIDS? Is there any chance of
contracting AIDS by donating blood?
Ans: AIDS is an abbreviation for Acquired
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Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, which
reduces the inherent power of the defence
mechanism of human body. As a result, the
affected person suffers from other ailments,
which may be fatal. No, there is no chance of
contracting AIDS by donating blood, since
disposable bleeding sets are used.
Q.12. Will my blood group be the same as that of
either of my parents?
Ans: May or may not be exactly. But there should
be a sort of relationship. We inherit our blood
group from our parents by random
combination of one gene from each of the
parents. Dominant genes (A,B) prevails over
recessive gene (O).
Q.13. Does the blood group of a particular person
change with time?
Ans: No.
Q.14. What is Rh factor?
Ans: Rh factor indicates the presence or absence of
an organic compound in the membranes of
red cells of human blood, similar to that
present in the membrane of the red cells of
Rhesus Macacus monkey. Those having the
compound are denoted as Rh positive and
 those without such compound are denoted as
Rh negative.
Q.15. How long can blood be preserved in a blood
bank?
Ans: In India blood is normally preserved in blood
bank for 35 days using CPDA or CPDA1
solution as anticoagulant.
Q.16. The maximum life span of RBC is 120 days.
Why is then blood is preserved in blood bank
for only 35 days?
Ans: Donated blood contains cells ranging from 1
to 120 days life span. Naturally, cells having
such varied life spans cannot be preserved for
120 days in the bag since in that case there will
only be a few living cells present. In order to
get a considerable number of living cells
present in the blood for transfusion, 35 days
shelf life has been found to be optimum with
CPDA and CPDA1 solution on the basis of
various experiments. Furthermore, cells
which can remain alive for 120 days within
the human body cannot survive for such
period in an artificial environment.
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Q.17. Will there be any good if blood is transfused to
a patient on the 34th day after collection from
the donor?
Ans: It will serve the purpose of volume expander.
There will still be a considerable number of
living red cells present in the bag which will be
able to carry oxygen to the cells and bring
back carbon dioxide.
Q.18. The blood collected from the vein may
contain dead cells. Will there be any good by
transfusing this blood?
Ans: The blood collected will contain cells of
various life spans. A considerable portion will
certainly be living cells which will serve the
purpose.
Q.19. Often on tendering the blood donors card,
blood is not being made available from the
blood banks and then what is the use of
donating blood?
Ans: Donation in the real sense of the term is
unconditional and without any string. Further,
the credit card is given to the donor as a
recognition and to meet the donors own
future need or the need of the donors near
relatives, who have no other alternative but to
depend only on the donor to meet his/her
blood need. It is expected that 10-15% donor
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 cards would be tendered. If all the cards are
tendered, then blood banks would not be
able to honour cards in view of existing gap
between demand and supply, as blood banks
have to issue blood to serious patients also
who have no cards at all. One should
remember blood donors are not depositors. If
there are enough donors, everybody should
get blood in time of their need.
Q.20. Why commercial blood banks are not being
banned by legislation?
Ans: Without organising voluntary blood donor
base and the culture of voluntary blood
donation in the community, mere banning of
commercial blood banks will not solve the
problem. Rather, the actual gap between the
demand and supply will only lead to the
establishment of more illegal commercial
blood banks.
Q.21. Is it, true that the donated blood in blood
bank is wasted unused?
Ans: No it is just a myth and the story is cooked up
by vested interest. Question of wastage does
not arise when a big gap between demand
and supply exists.
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Q.22. Is there any corruption in blood bank?
Ans: So long as there is a gap between demand
and supply and people are afraid to donate
for their near and dear ones, chances of
corruption may be there. The only way to
combat possible corruption in this specific
area is to step up voluntary blood donation in
a big way.
Q.23. Which are the states of India where blood
donation movement can be palpably felt?
Ans: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu,
West Bengal, Chandigarh and Tripura.
Q.24. Which country of the world has the best blood
transfusion service totally dependent on
voluntary donors?
Ans: U. K. , Canada, Australia and Japan.
Q.25. What is the blood need of India and how is it
met?
Ans: 8 million units per year. Total collection is 5.6
million units, 3 million units by voluntary
donors, 2.6 million units by relative and
exchange donors.
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Q.26. What is the harm if blood donation is made
compulsory?
Ans: It has been observed that common people are
apathetic to compulsion. The people should
be motivated and inspired to donate blood
voluntarily. Compulsion may lead to hatred
towards the cause, which does more harm
than good to the movement. Only sustained
painstaking motivational programme based
on education can help the country to achieve
total voluntary blood programme. Moreover,
blood collected from people donating under
compulsion may not be safe.
Q.27. We have read in the science journals about
artificial blood . What is it? Can it be used for
transfusion as a substitute for human blood?
Ans: The research is still in a preliminary stage. The
term artificial blood is a misnomer as blood
has various functions. The so called artificial
blood can only carry oxygen to the cells and
bring back carbon dioxide in a limited way but
cannot perform any other function of blood at
all. Further, this so called substitute is quite
costly.
Q.28. Why does blood coagulates when it comes
outside the body but do not coagulate inside
the body?
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Ans: Secretion of heparin by WBC inside the body
prevents blood coagulation. But when tissues
are wounded resulting in bleeding, a series of
reactions takes place in the bled blood which
ultimately forms a fine mesh of hard fibre
within which the blood cells are trapped and
the blood is thus clotted.
Q.29. Who can give blood?
Ans: Anyone between 18 and 60 years of age and
in normal health having a body weight of 45
kg. or more and a haemoglobin content not
less than 12.5 gms/hundred ml can be a
donor.
Q.30. Does it take long time to donate blood?
Ans: It should take not more than 20 minutes of
time including time for rest and taking
refreshment.
Q.31. How much blood do you take?
Ans: Blood banks take only 350 ml of blood as
your gift of love.
Q.32. Why is my finger pricked before donation?
Ans: To estimate haemoglobin content in blood.
This is the component of the red cells which
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 transport oxygen in the human body to all
the organs and tissues. If the level is low, it is
not wise to give blood.
Q.33. What is the liquid in the bag into which the
blood is taken ?
Ans: It is called anti-coagulant and prevents the
blood from clotting. It also helps to preserve
the blood cells. It is known as CPDA (Citrate,
Phosphate, Dextrose, Adenine) solution.
Q.34. How often can one give blood?
Ans: Not more than once in 90 days.
Q.35. Is blood donation very painful?
Ans: No. Not more than a prick of an injection
needle.
Q.36. Will I feel all right after donation ?
Ans: Yes, you can go back to your normal work
after 30 minutes.
Q.37. I have heard of people fainting. Is that
common?
Ans: Very occasionally a donor may faint. The
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most common reason is psychological and
often due to rushing to get up too soon after
donating. Relax and rest a little and you will
be fine.
Q.38. You wouldnt want my blood, would you? I
am of a common group.
Ans: We constantly need donors of all blood
groups.
Q.39. Nobody has ever asked me to donate blood.
Ans: Consider yourself invited!
Q.40. I am too old!
Ans: If you are between 18 and 60 years and in
good health you can donate blood.
Q.41. But I am underweight!
Ans: Not, if you are 45 Kg. or more, and in good
health you can donate blood.
Q.42. Oh! but I am anaemic!
Ans: We test for anaemia before every donation.
Q.43. But it will make me weak.
Ans: Blood donation has no ill effect on the body.
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 You can resume your routine duties
immediately after blood donation. The
amount of blood donated is a small part of
your surplus blood and is recouped by the
body in twenty one days and you can donate
blood again after 3 months.
Q.44. I am too busy and it is too inconvenient!
Ans: The entire procedure of blood donation takes
about 15-20 minutes whereas the actual
Blood Donation is just 5 minutes job !
of compatible group is only transfused. Before
blood transfusion, a sample of the blood is
tested, and cross-matched with a suitable
donor unit. These tests reduce the risk of any
serious reactions. Of course, no medical
procedure is absolutely hundred percent safe.
Most blood transfusion reactions, if they
occur, are mild.

Q.45. How long does it take to transfuse a unit of

blood?
Ans: This depends on the condition for which
transfusion is being given. If the patient is
being transfused to replace blood for sudden
massive blood loss, one unit of blood may be
given rapidly in about 10-15 minutes.
However, if the blood transfusion is being
given for anaemia, it may take over 3-4
hours. Normal rate of transfusion is 28 drops
per minute.

Q.46. Can I develop a serious reaction to blood

transfusion with blood from another person?
Ans: Not usually. People differ from each other
with respect to their blood groups and blood

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Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal
Office Hours
6.00 pm to 9.00 pm (Sunday Closed)
Phone: +(91) (33) 2227 1022, 2227 7882
Fax: +(91) (33) 2217 6677
E-mail: avbdwb@gmail.com
Web: http://www.angelfire.com/sc/avbdwb/rakta.html

All communication should be addressed to the Secretary,

Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal,
20A Fordyce Lane, Kolkata 700014, West Bengal, India.

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Association of
Voluntary Blood Donors
West Bengal
20A Fordyce Lane,
Kolkata 700014, INDIA
Phone: +(91) (33) 2227 1022, 2227 7882
Fax: +(91) (33) 2217 6677
E-mail: avbdwb@gmail.com
Web: http://www.angelfire.com/sc/avbdwb/rakta.html

SALIENCE AVBDWB 1143 0110