#WisdomWednesday: Why donating blood is important
VIDEO: Ryno van Jaarsveld, nursing services manager at a local private hospital on why every Randfonteiner should get involved and donate blood to save a life.
World Blood Donor Day was commemorated on 14 June, with the focus being that every person should donate blood.
The Herald spoke to Ryno van Jaarsveld, a nursing services manager at a local private hospital to find out how hospitals use donated blood.
“By donating a unit of blood you are giving the gift of life, because every unit can save up to three lives. Despite advances in medical technology, blood cannot be created,” he said.
He went on to say that donated blood is separated into blood, platelets and plasma before it is used.
“We use blood for complications during childbirth, accidents, surgeries, cancer patients and even in paediatric care,” he said.
According to a statement released by the South African National Blood Services, only one per cent of South Africans donate blood regularly. They also said that there is a common misconception that most blood donated in South Africa goes to accident victims, but 28 per cent is used to treat cancer and aplastic anaemia, 27 per cent is used during childbirth, 21 per cent is used for scheduled surgery, 10 per cent is used for paediatric care, six per cent goes to laboratories, another six per cent is used for orthopaedic care and a mere four per cent is used for accident or trauma victims.
“I think that every Randfonteiner should get involved and donate blood to save a life. There is going to be a very big Blood Drive in Randfontein in September. The details will be announced closer to the date, but we hope that Randfonteiners will come out in large numbers to support it,” Ryno added.
