>> People will pay for your blood

By Mary Tapp

Christy Aldridge recently lost her niece to complications from the H1N1 virus. Theresa Khouri, nearly 23 when she died, was hospitalized for several weeks at two Atlanta area hospitals while fighting pneumonia. During her stays, she received many blood products. One of these was the blood component plasma.

Aldridge, of Atlanta, was thankful for those who gave their blood plasma.

“People think that all you need is whole blood, but it’s just not true,” she said. “[She] needed all kinds of things. Sometimes she needed white blood cells, sometimes red. And sometimes she needed plasma products. The only time she needed whole blood was when she lost a lot of blood at once.”

The plasma product given to Khouri was most likely albium. This plasma product is used in the care of shock, trauma, burn and surgery patients. Most products made from plasma are used to help with blood clotting disorders, such as hemophilia.

Hemophiliacs are people who have trouble creating clotting agents in their blood. When they suffer minor injuries, their bodies cannot stop bleeding the way bodies are supposed to do.

“If I can get paid and save a life too, why not?”

-Brandon Manuel

There are four plasma donation centers in the Tri-Cities. Two of these sites are in Johnson City. These centers are always looking for new donors. Plasma Biological Services, on Ashe Street in Johnson City, has recently given special privileges to student donors.

“There are a number of critical life-saving therapies that help people to live healthy productive lives,” said Kara Flynn, a representative from the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association.

She added that many obscure diseases cannot be controlled without plasma-generated drugs.

One of these is the rare complication in expectant mothers called the Rh factor. The Rh factor occurs when a father and mother’s blood proteins do not match. Babies who are affected by the Rh factor need plasma generated drugs to help them to develop healthily inside their mothers. Without the aid of these medicines, a baby could become seriously ill, brain damaged, or even die in the womb.

Donating blood plasma is easy and worthwhile, frequent donors say. The first visit is the longest. Each time a new donor comes in, they are given a physical and are checked to see if they are well enough to donate. New donors receive HIV and Hepatitis screens. This process can take up to three hours.

After the donation is complete, new donors receive compensation for their visit, depending on the donor’s weight and which site is visited. After the initial visit donors shouldn’t expect to stay more than an hour and a half. They can donate up to two times in a seven-day period.

Plasma donations are a help to hundreds in need across the country. There are 400 plus sites in the United States today. Plasma is the only source for creating important life saving drugs. They cannot be produced in a laboratory. 

Brandon Manuel of Johnson City explained the reason he donates.

“If I can get paid and save a life too, why not?”