Fabrice Schweizer
Science Mrs. Sonja
D Block Class 8A
Blood Transfusion
1. A blood transfusion is the process in which you receive blood through an
intravenous (IV see picture) line inserted into one of your blood vessels. Blood
transfusion can be life-saving in some situations or can be used to replace blood
lost during surgery.
During a blood transfusion, a small needle is used to insert an IV line into one of
your blood vessels. You then receive healthy blood through this IV line. This
process usually takes around 1-4 hours depending on how much blood you need.
2. Blood is most commonly donated as whole blood by inserting a catheter into a
vein and collecting it in a plastic bag. Then the blood bank collects all the blood
and screens it.
But what is a blood bank? Blood banks Blood banks collect, test, and store blood.
They carefully screen all donated blood for infectious agents (such as viruses) or
other factors that could make you sick. They also screen all the donated blood to
find out whether it's type A, B, AB, or O and whether it's Rh-positive or Rhnegative. You can get very sick if you receive a blood type that doesn't work with
your own blood type. Some blood banks also remove the white blood although
rare, some people are allergic to white blood cells in donated blood. Removing
these cells makes allergic reactions less likely.
3. 1628 British physician William Harvey discovers the circulation of blood. The
first known blood transfusion is attempted soon afterward.
1658 Microscopist Jan Swammerdam observes and describes red blood cells.
1665 The first recorded successful blood transfusion occurs in England:
Physician Richard Lower keeps dog alive by transfusing blood from other dogs.
1667 Jean-Baptiste Denis in France and Richard Lower and Edmund King in
England separately report successful transfusions from sheep to humans.
1818 British obstetrician James Blundell performs the first successful transfusion
of human blood to a patient for the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage.
1873-1880 U.S. physicians attempt transfusing milk from cows, goats and
humans.
1901 Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian physician, discovers the first three human
blood groups.
So the first blood transfusion was done in England in 1665 from a dog to a dog.
The first human blood transfusion was done in 1818 of human blood to a patient
for the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage.
4. Science makes it even possible to do blood transfusions every day. You use
science to find out what blood type the donor has and what blood the receiver
needs. You also need science to find out if the blood is healthy and if the red
blood cells are good. This is like the labs that we do just at a higher level. To get
the blood is easy but all these tests that you have to do afterwards like check if
the blood is healthy, remove the white blood cells etc. is impossible to do without
science.
5. Of course blood transfusion saves lives and is helpful especially fore the ones
who need blood often but there are also side effects and risks that you take with a
blood transfusion.
The benefits are:
 Most people who receive blood feel better, have more energy, and are able
to participate in more activities.
 Children who receive blood transfusion therapy may grow better than
they did while on other therapy.
 Blood transfusion can safe lives
Side effects:
 The allergic reaction is the most common type of reaction. This reaction
happens during the process of a blood transfusion and the problem is that
the body reacts to plasma proteins in the donated blood. The symptoms
are hives and itching.
 The febrile reaction means that that the person gets a sudden fever during
or within 24 hours of the transfusion. Headache, nausea, chills, or a
general feeling of discomfort may come with the fever.
6. The blood transfusion makes it possible for people to survive who might have
died 100 years ago. Less people dying means less pain in the world. For example
if my mom would have blood cancer 100 years ago she most likely would of died.
Now 100 years later the doctors could save her thanks to blood transfusion. The
economical impacts is that if 100`000 of people die because they don’t get blood,
there are people missing who might be important for the government of for a
certain company. It also helps the economy because today, these blood banks
trade and send the blood all over the planet. In some countries it is common for
organisations to pay for blood. Even in the United States, many plasma donors
are still paid for their bodily fluids.
So that makes money for the government etc. So overall blood transfusion has a
huge economical and social impact on our society.
7. Medical treatment and procedures changed because today a lot of people need
blood immediately and through the blood transfusion its possible for them to
survive. The doctors today are way more developed then 50 years ago so that
also helps to minimize the side effects after or during a blood transfusion. Overall
the blood transfusion makes life easier for the hospitals because it only takes
around 4 hours to give blood to someone.
Bibliography:
 "What





Is a Blood Transfusion?" - NHLBI, NIH. N.p., n.d. Web.
29 Sept. 2013.
"History of Blood Transfusion." American Red Cross. N.p., n.d.
Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
"What Is a Blood Transfusion?" What Is a Blood Transfusion?
N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
"Possible Risks of Blood Transfusions." Possible Risks of Blood
Transfusions. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
"Blood Transfusion Therapy." Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 03 Jan.
2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
"Blood for Money? We Need More of an Incentive to Donate."
Blogsindependentcouk. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.
.