Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery seemed to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.

- Dan Millman

   
THIS IS a story from Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit. We may feel moved and touched by the little boy's sacrifice and innocence, but how many of us think of donating our own blood after hearing such a   story? We never truly realize that blood donation is not a great sacrifice on our part, but it can save somebody's life...

Blood donation at Yonsei

  From March 7 to 8, a blood drive was held in front of the Central Library, in a parked bloodmobile. "We come to Yonsei University once every two or three months," said a nurse on the bus. "Compared to students at other schools, Yonsei students tend to have a high rate of participation. Usually 30 to 40 students donate their blood each day, and sometimes even up to 50 students participate," she added.

  Sure enough, all three donor beds were occupied. Two friends had come together to donate their blood and lay side by side with  needles sticking from their arms. "I decided to go and donate blood in my free time when I saw this bus - so here I am. I think this is about my fifth time donating blood," said Lee Hwan-sung (Soph., Dept. of Mech. Engin.). "As for me, I donate blood about three or four times a year. I started doing it when I was in high school, and it has become something of a habit now," said his friend, Lim Hyung-jin (Soph., Dept. of Metal. System Engin.). "Donating blood is really no big deal. It doesn't hurt at all, and it's very safe, so I wish students would donate blood without thinking of it as burdensome," he added.

  Lee and Lim seemed to be very active donors, but what about other Yonsei students? The Yonsei Annals ran a survey on March 10 and asked questions about blood donation. Among the 100 respondents, 34 students replied that they had donated blood in the past. However, 58 students, including students who had donated blood before and students who had never done so, were willing to donate blood in the future. Among the students who answered that they had experience donating blood before, 13 replied they had donated their blood once, and 10 replied that they had donated their blood more than five times, 15 times being the highest record of all.

You can't make blood from scratch

So why is it so important for people to donate their blood? "People need transfusions for all kinds of reasons," says Ju Hee-jo, a public relations officer at the Blood Service Headquarters of the Korean Red Cross. "More than 50% of the people who receive blood transfusions are patients with leukemia. Then, there are people with cancer, or people who get in a car accident, or several other health problems that can require blood donation. But the thing is - there is no substitute for blood. Blood cannot be made artificially. The only way one can receive blood is by transfusion, and so we urge healthy people to donate their blood."

The lingering loopholes

  Even though the blood to be transfused must be treated with care, there are still some loopholes and limitations. One of the biggest problems yet is that accidents can occur if infected blood is transfused. Through the NAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test - a method of checking the presence of transferable viruses in blood products by isolation and amplification of viral nucleic acid), and the blood tests undergone at the Blood Center, viruses such as Hepatitis B or Syphilis can be eliminated. However, due to scientific limitations, there are times when such viruses are left undetected. "It takes about a month for viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C to activate, and before then, it is almost impossible to distinguish them with the tests we take. Nevertheless, there are patients who are badly in need of blood, and we are obliged to supply the blood before we know for sure whether the blood is infected or not," explains Ju. "Then there is an expiration date, even for blood; the plasma lasts one year, the red blood cells last 35 days, platelets only 5 days."

  Another problem is the price at which the Blood Center sells donated blood to hospitals. Many citizens criticize the Red Cross for selling the blood they collect from people through donation. "However, the fixed price at which one unit of blood is to be sold is set in the Blood Management Act. The money is used for tests, and the additional labor costs that go in the process of transfusion. Whole blood is sold at around ₩30,000, but the NAT itself costs ₩10,000 already," says Ju.

  Besides the institutional problems related to blood donation, people are just unaware of the urgent need for it. Blood donors were about 4.7% of the population in 2005, according to the Red Cross. This was a slight decrease from 4.8% in 2004. In Japan, the percentage of blood donors surpasses 5%, and in countries with strong welfare systems, such as Switzerland, the percentage of blood donors is 10% or more.
Another fact worthy of notice is the limited range of people who donate their blood in terms of occupation, sex, and age. According to the annual report by the Red Cross, students (41.4%) and military personnel (29.2%) made up 70.6% of total donors in 2004. Teenagers (30.9%) and people in their twenties (52.5%) had a high rate of donation, whereas only 16.6% was donated by people in their thirties, forties, and fifties. The ratio of men to women was 81 to 19. "Women have a surprisingly low rate of blood donation in our country. In developed countries, the ratio of blood donors is equal regardless of gender, or in some cases, the number of female donors is greater," Ju points out.

  Even people who do donate their blood are eager to get something in return. In Korea, a blood donor automatically receives a blood certificate, and usually some sort of gift. Blood donation is also used as a volunteer activity to be listed on high school students' report cards. According to the results of the Annals survey, 80 out of 100 students thought it was good that people receive a blood certificate and a gift of some kind in return for donating their blood.

Donating blood is a privilege

  The Red Cross is working to increase public awareness of blood donations. They are planning a walkathon this month as a campaign for blood drives. The course last year was around Namsan and is expected to be the same this year. The Red Cross is also preparing events for June 14, World Blood Donor Day. As for this year's walkathon, the date is not yet set, but Yonsei students should not hesitate to join in. Just as Ju emphasizes,   blood donation is a privilege that only healthy people can enjoy. Instead of involuntarily donating your blood to mosquitoes every summer, voluntarily donate it to someone who really needs it. Think about it - with a mere ten minutes of sacrifice, you can save somebody's life and it won't even itch!

From Donation

What to do to donate your blood

1. Enter a Blood Donation Parlor (or step up on a bloodmobile)
2. Fill out a donor registration form
3. Consult a nurse : show your ID → measure your pulse, blood temperature, blood pressure → check  your hemoglobin (iron) content.
4. Choose between whole blood donation, plasmapheresis (the type of donation in which you donate plasma for patients with leukemia or cancer), and plateletpheresis (the type in which you donate platelets).
5. Draw 320ml or 400ml of blood with a sterilized needle (5 to 10 minutes for whole blood, 30 to 40 minutes for plasmapheresis or plateletpheresis).
6. Have cookies and drinks and rest.

To Transfusion

What happens to the blood you donate?

1. Drawn blood is sent to the Blood Center.
2. Blood tests are undergone to check  for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, etc.
3. NAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) is taken at the Blood Laboratory Center.
4. Blood products are prepared to be supplied to hospitals.
5. Patients receive blood transfusions at hospitals.

"It is just like taking a bath because you feel tired, or opening the window to let in new air."

"There is no substitute for blood; we urge people to donate blood." - Ju Hee-jo

   
▲ Sung Hong-shik (Photographed by Chai Kyu-min)
The Greatest Giver of All

The Annals had an interview with Sohn Hong-shik, Korea? 471-time blood donor.

Q. Awaiting your 472nd blood donation, you have a record of having donated more blood than anybody in Korea? history. When did you first donate your blood?
On May 29, 1984, when I was 34 years old. The age limit for blood donation is 16, so actually, I was 18 years late!

Q. Was there any special reason that motivated you to start donating your blood?
As a matter of fact, I used to be extremely afraid of needles and shots. I avoided getting shots the best I could. But then the father of a friend died of liver cancer and this brought me to ponder about the meaning of life and death. That was when I started thinking about donating blood - it wasn't anything that would harm my health and nor did it cost me any money.

Q. Is there any kind of side-effect from donating blood?
Not at all. 8% of the weight of men and 7% of the weight of women consists of blood. A man who weighs 60kg has 4800ml of blood, and 10% of that, or 480ml, is there just for emergency. Each time you donate your blood, you lose 320ml or 400ml - it's not life-threatening. People worry about side-effects, but actually it is healthy for you to donate blood because it helps blood circulation. I have donated blood at every opportunity possible for 18 years straight. It is just like taking a bath because you feel tired, getting a haircut because your hair feels too cumbersome, or opening the window to let in new air because the air feels too stuffy.

Q. What kind of precautions do you take before you go to donate blood?
I refrain from drinking alcohol before donating blood, and try to get enough sleep. I eat a lot of vegetables and avoid meat for a couple of meals prior to the donation. I try not to feel too much stress, either.

Q. What do you personally gain through blood donation? And until when do you plan to keep donating your blood?
I feel myself gaining both mental and physical health. It is also a good chance for me to make myself stronger and be more positive-minded. 65 is the upper age limit in Korea for blood donation. Since I? 56 years old right now, I still have nine or ten years left to go! I just regret the 18 years during which I could have donated blood but didn?.

Q. Is there anything you would like to say to Yonsei students concerning blood donation?
Find the vigor and energy of the start of spring and the beginning of the new semester through blood donation! I think it would make a big impression on the people of our country if Yonsei students showed the pride and dignity of intellectuals by participating in blood donation.


Blood Certificates & Gifts

  Koreans tend to have a strong sense of fair trade. If one has offered something to someone else, one feels that he or she should get something in return. Perhaps it is inevitable in such a highly competitive capitalist society as Korea, but if this kind of practice stretches even to the realms of social service, one cannot help but feel that the true meaning of service is wearing off. It just doesn't seem right that blood donors receive a blood certificate, a gift as a token of thanks, and (in the case of high school students) are credited with three hours of volunteer work for each donation.
  Many countries, Japan and Switzerland to name just a few, do not even offer blood certificates as they do in Korea. Even so, 5% of Japan's population and 10% of Switzerland's population donates blood respectively, whereas only 4.7% of Korea's population donates blood, even with the certificates and gifts.
  There is a regulation that gifts provided after blood donation should not exceed ₩3,000. The existence of such a regulation makes it sound as if offering a gift - lotion, key chain, gift certificate, be whatever it may - is an obligation of the Red Cross. "Last winter, we gave out movie tickets to blood donors. Usually only about 30 to 40 people would have dropped by, but at the time, 80 to 90 people donated their blood. The problem is that the more expensive the gifts we offer, the bigger the debt the Red Cross has to cope with," says Jung Ju-eun, a nurse at the Shinchon Blood Donation Parlor. But where did anyone get the idea that gifts are mandatory? Do people know that the Korean Red Cross is actually ₩4,700,000,000 in debt?
 Although 80 out of 100 Yonsei students replied they were positive about blood certificates and gifts, it is slightly reassuring that among the 58 students who replied that they were willing to donate their blood in the future, 42 of them answered that they would donate their blood even without receiving something in return. If Koreans cannot be motivated to donate blood without such compensation, then Korea still has a long way to go before she can be called a nation of people with minds for social service.

   

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