Blood Donation

Here in Cameroon, individual hospitals usually do not have a large enough supply of blood for all the patients who need it. Even if one had excess, there would not be a reliable way to transport donated blood from hospital to hospital. For these and many other logistical reasons, each patient is responsible for finding their own blood donors. This works decently when a surgery is elective. Difficulties arise when there is an emergent medical or surgical need, however. Some patients are able to recruit family members to travel from their village to donate, but often they are not able to come in an emergent fashion. As I write this, one man has a hemoglobin of 4.8 (normal is >12) with a difficult blood type and no one to come and donate for him. He is very sick; we are not sure if he will survive the night.

Many of my friends and family donate blood at home in the U.S. I had gotten out of the habit for the past few years, as every time I'd travel to Africa or South America, the Red Cross rightly required a certain period of time (usually 1 year) before allowing me to donate again. One morning my job at the hospital was particularly light, and I decided to find out first-hand what donating blood here is like.

Step 1: Get my hemoglobin and iron levels checked - finger-prick only. Both being normal, they then ordered me to go eat and hydrate. For the "free donors (people donating for the general supply instead of a family member), this includes a 1,000CFA credit (equiv to ~$2) in the hospital canteen. I deferred on this, choosing instead walk the two blocks home to eat my leftovers and down 1.5L water.

Step 2: Visit the Counselor. She takes my vitals, discusses with me conditions for which my blood will be screened, asks me to disclose any underlying medical conditions that would preclude my blood from being used, and asks me multiple times "how do you pronounce your last name?" She actually doubles as the pre-HIV-test counselor, prenatal-clinic counselor, and likely several other roles.


Step 3: Find a friend to wait with me and help distract me from my mild needle phobia. Much thanks to Ngong Eunice!

Step 4: Lie back, relax, and smile for the camera! Thanks to the gentle giant phlebotomist - he was so professional, opening all the needles in front of me so I can confirm they've not being reused.


Step 5: Find out when you're allowed to donate next, and set a phone reminder. Here they require 90 days between donations. In the U.S., it is 56 days. We wonder if this is related to people in general having poorer diets and/or lower baseline iron and hemoglobin levels.

Thanks for reading, and please consider donating in your home country!

Link to the U.S.'s RedCross: http://www.redcross.org/give-blood