Blood appeal

WITH negative blood types being the rarest among Jamaicans, the National Blood Transfusion Service Director Dr Kamille West-Mitchell is urging citizens, particularly those with O-negative blood, to donate and boost the country’s blood supply, which has long faced shortages.

She noted that Jamaica collects approximately 30,000 units of blood each year, only half of the estimated 60,000 units to meet the nation’s needs. With just one to three per cent of Jamaicans possessing negative blood types — A-negative, B-negative, AB-negative, and O-negative — Dr West-Mitchell said the donor pool is relatively small. She said this is especially concerning for O-negative patients, who can only receive blood from O-negative donors but whose blood is frequently used in emergency situations because it can be safely transfused to patients of any blood type.

“If we don’t know your blood type — let’s say you’ve had a car accident or surgery or something and you didn’t know your blood type before — to minimise your risk, O-negative is a universal donor that can go to anybody, so there’s a lot of demand for O-neg. We have accidents, we have crashes, we have violence, we have all kinds of things where people are bleeding and we don’t know their blood type so we need more O-negative than we have, for sure,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Dr West-Mitchell noted that on a weekend, her team can get 30 requests for O-negative blood that they cannot meet. She further noted that some 200 patient samples are sent to the blood bank every night to see if they can prepare blood for individuals in need, but the demand always outstrips the supply.

“It is a challenge, and it means that we have to be very careful. We at the blood bank have to be very careful with our O-negative blood supply because we have all of these things to think about — babies, accidents, and, of course, the O-negative patients themselves…I know some people who are O-negative and don’t donate blood, and they kind of joke it off and say, ‘I know unnu want my blood type,’ and I’ll say to them, in all seriousness, no jokes, ‘Yes, we do,’ ” West-Mitchell shared.

“It’s not me who wants it. It’s not the blood bank that wants it. It’s not the medical technologists or the nurses who want it. We just know that later that night at 4 o’clock I’m going to get a call to say, ‘I have an O-negative patient in Mandeville or an O-negative patient somewhere else, or a baby at [Victoria] Jubilee [Hospital], do you have any?’ And I’m probably going to have to say no because we can’t force people to donate, we have to ask them,” she said.

“We know needles are scary. And we know sometimes, even if it’s not the needle, we know people will say, ‘I don’t have the time,’ but we’re not asking you to do it every day. You can’t do it every day, but if you haven’t even done it before, try it once. Try to do it at least once a year,” the director pleaded.

Given the rarity of O-negative blood and the frequency at which it is needed, Dr West-Mitchell said it is particularly important for individuals with O-negative blood to donate so they can increase the blood supply pool for their fellow O-negative Jamaicans.

“If you know your blood type and you’re O-neg, we really encourage you to come out and donate once a year — even once a year it makes a huge difference to all the babies, and the mothers, and the people who have accidents. Accidents can happen to any of us…so we really want to urge the people who are negative — A-negative, B-negative, A-B-negative, but especially the O-negative people — we really need them to come out,” she stressed.

“Wi have to help out wi one another. I feel we should start a little band; O-negative individuals have to look out for O-negative because it’s only three per cent O-negative blood in this country, and if you don’t donate, your O-negative brothers and sisters will not have any blood,” she warned.

The director acknowledged that some people might fear blood donation for many reasons but assured them that the process is easy and safe, with every precaution taken to make sure donors are comfortable and in the best health to donate.

She said even one donation can make an impact, recalling an interaction with a mother whose son was saved because a stranger donated blood.

“We were by the bedside that night, and she was looking up at the bag where her five-year-old was getting a transfusion because his blood counts were very low and he needed the blood to get through the night, and she looked at the bag at about nine o’clock at night. She was just looking at the bag and she said, ‘This person doesn’t know my son at all and was willing to do this so that he could get through this night,’ ” she told the Sunday Observer.

Dr West-Mitchell said the interaction made her emotional, and even as she continues to ask Jamaicans to donate, she thanks those who make the sacrifice to save a life.

“We’re very, very thankful for the donors because for every unit of blood that goes to a patient, there is a person who doesn’t know you from Adam who sat down in a chair, and took all the questions, and did all the things, and was stuck with the needle, and that’s why you have that unit today,” she said.

The director later added, “I believe Jamaicans are very kind, and very loving, and very community-oriented people. I think some people might think that’s not true, but I disagree. I think when it comes down to it, Jamaicans care about Jamaica…and I think one great way to show it is to take a few minutes off of your time and brave the needle. You can do it. I believe in you. Brave the needle to help a stranger or two, or even three. You never know who you might be helping.”