May 11, 2007 - Star Gazette.com
You can't get blood from a stone, but can you get it from a machine?
Yes you can ... well, sort of. The blood comes from human donors, but it's withdrawn through an electric machine that doubles the amount of blood donated in one sitting.
Unlike traditional whole blood donations, where one pint of blood is given, the double-red machine takes two pints of blood, removes the red blood cells and returns the remaining blood components back into the body, along with a saline solution.
The $75,000 machine will be used Sunday in Elmira during a Mother's Day blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sullivan Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross at 911 Stowell St.
It's an opportunity to help replenish the always-short summer blood supply and do it in the name of your mom. All donors get a free T-shirt and Mother's Day card for mom.
The machine offers several advantages over traditional whole blood donations:
- It uses a smaller needle, and the donor rests on a comfortable inclined lounge chair.
- Twice as much blood is removed, which means fewer trips each year to donate blood.
- The saline (salt) solution means you leave the chapter house more hydrated than when you arrived.
- The donor can wait twice as long (112 days) between donations, which means fewer calls from the Red Cross asking for blood donations.
The only downside is 15 minutes of time. That's how much longer it takes to use the machine instead of the 60 minutes to give blood without the machine.
"The machine is a tremendous help," says Joel Robinson, executive director of the local Red Cross chapter. "About 75 percent of people who donate blood in our region only do it once a year, although they could do it six times a year. With the machine, they come once and donate twice as much blood."
Human blood contains red cells, plasma and platelets. Red blood cells are the most needed blood component. In emergency medical situations, red blood cells can save lives of trauma and surgery patients. Red blood cells are also used to treat people with some types of cancer and sickle cell anemia, say Red Cross officials.
With the electric machine, blood is drawn from one arm and channeled through sterile, single-use tubes to the machine. The red blood cells are removed in a centrifuge and the remaining blood components are pumped back into your body through the same arm.
"I think it's fantastic," says 61-year-old Eugene White of Pine City, who has donated more than 42 pints of blood in the past 45 years. "It's less hassle because I don't have to come in as often."
White donated blood through double-red a half-dozen times.
Unfortunately, the local chapter will have only one machine on Sunday. The equipment belongs to the Binghamton Red Cross blood center, says Betsy Morrisey, blood services manager for the Elmira chapter.
"The machine can only handle one person per hour," Morrisey says.
The local chapter is hoping to find the money to buy a machine, Robinson says, but the expense and strict Food and Drug Administration regulations makes that difficult.
"In a few years, we expect the technology to make it easier and make more sense for us to own our own machines," Robinsons explains. "We'd like to outfit vans with the machines and drive them to rural areas, like maybe a small manufacturing business, and run several people through the process."
If you want to give blood through the machine Sunday, you need to make an appointment by calling Morrissey at (607) 481-0847 .
You must be 17 years or older and weigh at least 110 pounds and be in generally good health. A 16-year-old can donate if he or she has a signed New York State Informed Parental consent form. Also bring picture identification.
"We've had access to the double-red machine for about 18 months," Morrissey says. "People love it because they don't have to come donate as often and they save twice as many lives."
So listen up folks, go give blood Sunday. You'll feel better about yourself. You'll get a greeting card for mom and you could save a life. Plus, everyone who donates Sunday gets their name in a raffle to win a $25 gasoline gift card.
What are you waiting for? Someone to invent a machine that gets blood out of a stone?