Hi! I’m the blood donation fairy! Here comes the end of the year. Many people want do something significant for the year’s end. That’s why they do volunteer work. Blood donation is one of the easiest ways of volunteering. It is easiest, but not a needless action. Imagine that you have to get a blood transfusion because of serious injuries. You’ll realize that blood donation is a necessary practice of love.

● People’s Recognition about Blood Donation
How many Korean people are interested in blood donation? The Ministry of Health & Welfare researched 1,000 people’s minds about blood donation. 42.9 percent of 1,000 people were interested in blood donation. However, more than half of people weren’t interested in blood donation. In other words, six out of ten people had no interest in blood donation. 594 of 1000 people had no intention to donate blood. Among the reasons for no intention, “health problem” and “fear about blood donation” were the most common.
Blood donation is a very noble deed. Therefore, many people should donate blood for patients. However, unfortunately, a large amount of people aren’t interested in blood donation, as shown in the graph. The need is constant. Stop giving excuses, start giving life.

● What Is Blood Donation?
I’ll explain blood donation for you. Blood donation is when healthy people donate their blood, of their own volition, in exchange for nothing. Blood donation is the only way to save people who need blood transfusion, because blood can’t be made artificially and there is no other alternative for that. I’ll explain it in more detail. Types of blood donation are “whole blood donation” and “apheresis.” Whole blood donation is drawing all of blood’s ingredients like red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma and platelets. Apheresis is divided into three types: apheresis of plasma, apheresis of platelets, and apheresis of plasma platelets. Apheresis works by returning a donor’s blood to the donor after an apheresis machine finishes abstracting necessary elements like plasma and platelets. Therefore, apheresis takes more time than whole blood donation. Would you know about blood donation? Perhaps, you want to donate blood. Then, let’s go donate it.

● Blood to Blood
Can you donate blood? Then, let’s check out blood donation places!
① Process of blood donation
Many of you may have been through this process, but for those of you who are new, let me introduce you how things work in here! Don’t get scared!
1. Registration of blood donation card
2. Consultation about blood donation
3. Blood donation
4. Getting enough rest and receiving certificate of blood donation
② Process of blood supply
Don't you wonder how your blood is used? These are the processes of blood supplying:
- For a blood transfusion
1. Blood is stored in a blood bank
2. A medical institution asks for blood supply from a blood bank
3. A blood bank provides blood to the medical institution (or the medical institution visits the blood bank to get blood).
4. The medical institution implements cross-matching between blood and transfusion receiver.
5. The Medical institution transfuses blood into thea patient
- For medicine production
1. Storage of blood in a blood bank
2. Plasma derivatives are moved to a plasma fractionation center.
3. Plasma fractionation center provides blood to pharmaceutical companies.

● Tips for Donors
Thank you for your donation! You just saved three people’s lives! I prepared some tips for you about cautions after blood donation. These are simple and easy, but if you don’t follow them, it can be critical sometimes, so read it!
① Press the spot on your arm for more 10 minutes after the donation. If you rub the area, you may get a bruise. In addition, you have to check whether your spot of blood donation has stopped bleeding.
② Right after the blood donation, rest for more than 15 minutes.
③ Drink three or four more cups of water than usual.
④ Avoid drinking and smoking within an hour after donating blood. These can cause vomiting or dizziness.
⑤ Avoid strenuous exercise and moving too much. If you lift heavy things or do strenuous exercise, you can get a bruise at your spot of blood donation.
⑥ Leave a band-aid on the area of blood donation for at least four hours. In addition, be careful not to let external substances reach the area.
⑦ After donating blood, when you sit down around a table, put both feet on the floor with your elbows up on the table and sit leaning forward. This posture reduces the possibility of falling on the floor if you feel dizzy or pass out.
● Things You Can Earn After Donating Blood
Let's see what you can earn after donating blood:
- Certificate of Blood Donation
After donating blood, you get a certificate of blood donation. You cannot reissue it, but you can hand it over to other people. Moreover, there's no expiration period. Later, if you are in an emergency, you may need to receive a blood transfusion. After receiving a blood transfusion, when you pay for the medical services, you can show them the certificate of blood donation. They will deduct a specific amount of money from the hospital bill. Also, you can request the hospital for refund according to the number of certificates of blood donation you have.
- Blood Donation Medal
Moreover, for the people who donated blood a lot, a blood donation medal is given. A silver medal goes to the person who donated blood more than 30 times, and a gold medal goes to the person who donated more than 50 times. Also, you can get a special present from the Red Cross, and people who donated blood more than 100 times can be enlisted in the Hall of Fame. Most of all, even if there is no reward, you will earn a lot of things. The pain just lasts a moment. Instead of pain, you can feel your heart full of love.

● Tell Me YES or NO!
1. Can we contract AIDS by giving blood?
No. The process of donating blood is very safe. The instruments that are used for donating blood are aseptic. They are certainly discarded after use.
2. Is donating blood harmful for our health?
No. About 15% of the total blood in our body is extra. If we rest enough, it doesn't matter.
3. I heard that we can lose weight by donating blood. Is it true?
No. It is true that the amount of blood goes out of our body but it is balanced up by the movement of the blood from the tissues to blood vessels. After a few days or weeks, it returns to the original amount. That's why donating blood is not associated with losing weight.
4. Don't blood donations make blood vessels narrow?
No. They constrict for a moment but they return to their original condition soon.
5. Can it cause anemia?
No. Blood donation draws extra amounts of blood. Also, before drawing, we should check hemoglobin levels to judge whether we have enough blood. Therefore, it doesn't cause anemia.
6. Is there any limit of period and number of times?
Yes. To protect blood donors, whole blood donations are limited to five times a year. You can do it again after two months. In the case of apheresis the limit is 24 times a year. You can do it again after two weeks.

● Blood Donation at CBNU!
Did you know that CBNU also organized a special event about blood donation? CBNU student unions carried on a campaign for blood donation on September 10th. The campaign was conducted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in front of three buildings in CBNU. This campaign has been held every semester since 2002. The CBNU blood donation house and Jeonbuk blood bank supported apheresis machines, blood collecting equipment, and so on. Also, they offered blood donors sterilization of hands and measurement of temperature to prevent swine flu. During those days, more than 500 students and faculty members donated blood spontaneously. A lot of people may be able to be revived because of that practice of true love. We could know the importance of blood donation and meaning of love through this campaign.

● One Small Act of Love Can Save a Person
In 2004, there was a woman in childbirth, but she had a miscarriage, unfortunately. She really needed to receive a blood transfusion because of the excessive bleeding, but her blood type was -D-/-D-. -D-/-D- is the world's most rare blood type. One in 300,000 people is born with this blood type and only three people have -D-/-D- in Korea. Because this is a very rare type of blood, she was in danger. Fortunately, the hospital found sisters who had -D-/-D- with the help of the National Police. The sisters donated blood to her promptly. However, the woman needed more blood, so they received some more from Osaka, Japan. Thanks to the blood donors and the other people who helped to deliver the blood, the woman could recover. One small act of love can save a person.

● Interesting Information about Blood Donation
1. We can save a newborn baby with only one teaspoon of blood.
2. 4.5 million people are saved by blood donation in a year.
3. Every two seconds, a person needs blood transfusion.
4. If everyone donates blood 2 to 4 times a year, the lack of blood in the world will disappear.
5. Blood can be kept for a maximum of 35 days when put in a special preserving agent and frozen.

CBNU Blood Donation House came in seventh in usage among University Blood Donation places in Korea in 2011. This was possible because of the people who shared love in exchange for nothing. If you can't try because you don't have time, CBNU Blood Donation House is near you. It is located next to the First Student Hall. Why don't we have a great time sharing our love by donating blood this winter?