Blood Donation Facts - Is the US Blood Supply in Jeopardy?

In the past few decades, many operations that formerly required a blood transfusion using donated blood is now performed without the use of blood products. In many of these cases, patients who receive work voluntarily choose not to have a transfusion. These patients instead opt for alternative medical procedures, usually called bloodless surgery.
Patients' reasons for seeking alternatives to blood transfusion vary. Some have strong religious beliefs that do not allow for transfusions, Jehovah's Witnesses are the most well-known group of people who do not receive transfusions for these reasons. Others prefer a bloodless approach to surgery because they are concerned with the risks associated with receiving blood transfusions from the donor blood.
The increase in HIV and AIDS in the mid to late 1980's was partly responsible for the patient relates to the safety benefits of blood. In the U.S., the blood used in transfusions of blood coming from banks located throughout the country. According to the U.S. National Blood Data Resource Center, more than 15 million units of blood are donated every year. This volume of donated blood comes from more than eight million blood donors.
American institutions collecting donor blood donations have strict requirements. Potential donors who have recently traveled abroad, received a piercing or tattoo, you have certain medical conditions or were exposed to sexually transmitted diseases are just some examples of people who may not be eligible to donate blood. In fact, the whole list of health conditions, medications, lifestyle and travel habits that were screened during the blood donation process is exhaustive.
However, even with strict screening, assessment and testing procedures, there are still patients in the United States who contract a serious infectious disease from blood donors received during a transfusion. There are documented cases of patients contracting HIV, hepatitis (B and C) and West Nile virus from contaminated blood.
Apart from the risk of viruses and diseases, supply of the U.S. blood May be at risk in other areas. Because of strict blood donation requirements necessary to obtain the safest possible blood shortages are not uncommon. This often happens in patients who require a rare blood type. However, even patients with the common blood groups (such as O positive), may be encountered in blood shortages. In many cases, the availability of certain types of blood depends more on when and where the patient needs, not what blood type is needed.
Although these and other risks that are present in the blood supply of the United States, this does not mean that blood transfusions were "uncertain". While some patients prefer alternatives to transfusion, such as bloodless surgery, the fact remains that millions of successful blood transfusion is performed every day, and that the transfusions to improve health and survival of transfusion recipients.