Donating blood is good for your health – medical doctor

Dr Danielle Levy is encouraging more people to donate blood because of the benefits of the process, which include better health outcomes for donors.

She said while every donation can make a life-saving difference to those in need of transfusion, donors also get a basic check-up that can help them to improve their own lives.

“A lot of the women especially who turn up to donate find out that they have low blood count during the screening process, and that is something that you should check your doctor about. There are different types of anaemia; they may have iron deficiency anaemia or they may have B12 deficiency anaemia,” she explained.

Dr Levy said that in addition to screening for haemoglobin concentration and blood pressure levels among others, donating blood regularly can improve heart health by removing excess iron from the body. Red blood cells contain iron to carry out their function. Dr Levy noted that this is particularly beneficial for men who usually have more iron stored.

“Your blood cells regenerate whenever you donate blood and for us women, our blood cells regenerate on a monthly basis. Men don’t have that opportunity so especially for men, donation is very good,” she said.

Dr Levy shared the benefits of donating during the Christmas Blood Drive held at the JN Bank Head Office in Half Way Tree on December 9. The drive was organised by the Rotaract Club of Kingston in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the JN Sports and Social Club. Thirty units of blood were collected at the event, a quantity which organisers say can benefit some 90 people in need.

DONATION PROCESS

Keishawna Pinnock, blood-donor organiser at the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), said 10 drives were staged in early December across the country, with more scheduled to take place before Christmas Day.

“These drives are very important especially during the Yuletide season when the hospitals and health centres get a lot of people in need of blood. It’s critical for us to be on the road during this time to collect more blood to meet the country’s demand,” she said.

She encouraged more persons to give blood, reiterating the simplicity of the process.

“It’s five steps to the donation process. There’s registration, then there are two parts to the screening process where you can even get an idea of which blood group you belong to. Donating is the fourth step and that’s actually the shortest step of about five to seven minutes and then you move on to the fifth step, which is hydration, and you spend a little time with us for the nurse to assess you and make sure you are OK before you leave,” she explained.

Peter-Gaye Bromfield, vice president of the Rotaract Club of Kingston, and a regular blood donor, said donating is important not only for the personal health benefits, but also for the positive impact it can have on others in need.

“I feel closely connected to giving back to my community in any way possible and blood is something that we all have. It’s very easy to donate and I’ve never had a bad experience .... You are also given certain opportunities, as a donor, if you need blood,” she said.

Harrington Moncrieffe said he understands the value of donating and noted that “there are people out there who really need blood and so every time the Rotaract Club of Kingston puts on a drive, I try to donate.”

The NBTS says persons may also donate blood at any of the 11 blood collection centres located at hospitals across the island. Interested persons can visit nbts.gov.jm or the NBTS’ social media pages for the list of centres and their locations.