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I don't know about most tourists, but
when I'm planning a short hop to Uganda
or even a holiday in Rwanda, I like to
consider some of the risks. Needless to
say, wise travelers to many destinations
avoid drinking the water, eschew ice,
unpeeled veggies, etc. A bad tummy is
child's play
in some places where an
injury
or illness, relatively benign in some
locals,
can subject the traveler to HIV, Hepatitis,
Ebola . . . or worse!
The Personal Blood Storage Service (PBSS)
would allow savvy travelers to have blood
drawn in the PBSS sterile labs, prior to
departure, and if needed while away their
own blood could be sent FedEx or
whatever the fastest way to send blood
may be. At least travelers could breath
easily during their transfusion.
Upon return, the blood would be
donated
to the Red Cross or some other blood
worthy recipient.
lets give some...
http://www.blood.co.uk/
[po, Dec 23 2007]
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Annotation:
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The PBSS people could be known as PBSS's (short for PhleBotomiStS) |
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If you're going to have blood FedExed in
from your home country (presumably
somewhere less infectious than where
you're holidaying), why would it have to
be your own? I mean, yes, a "self
transfusion" is better than a non-self
transfusion for a number of reasons,
but none are really that compelling. So,
all you really need is a service which will
ship you blood which has been
subjected to the screening which we
take for granted in the West. |
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Also, I suspect that an equal or greater
infection risk comes from the
equipment used in your Rwandan
holiday hospital, rather than from the
blood. |
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Also, there are relatively few
circumstances where you'll need a
transfusion. But, in those few
circumstances, you're likely to need it
rather quickly. |
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Also, if you look at transfusion in the
UK (and presumably elsewhere), it turns
out that if you need any, you're quite
likely to need lots. So, you're going to
have to bank several units of blood,
over a fairly long period of time, to
make this worthwhile. |
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Also, with so many alsos, this is a [-]. |
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Would a really really long needle work
better? |
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It depends on what you're knitting. What
did you have in mind? |
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Reminiscent of a line from C.W. McCall's "Black Bear Road": |
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"Me an' RJ an' the kids was on a camp-out in the mountains, and we had us one'a them U-Drive-'Em Army Jeep cars which we rented from a fella by the name of Kubozke for thirty bucks a day, buy your gas along the way, take a rabbit's foot and leave a pint of blood for a dee-posit." |
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Iffn ya hain't never actually heerd, ner heerd of, C.W. McCall, don't worry none. Yu'll live. |
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//Blood in the UK may still be
contaminated with BSE prions// |
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True. But we have our ebola issues
contained. |
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C.W. McCall. I remember that. Word for word. |
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How about you take some blood in your luggage? A nice ice chest, four pints of good blood, transfusion equipment and some extra medical goodies. Send it to the most likely hospital when you arrive. If you leave without needing it, the hospital is a winner. Make an organized service out of that, and I'd join. |
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I'm not dissuaded. Fine, enclose sterile
state of the art needles with the blood
shipment. Even if it's just
psychological, if I need blood, I'd rather
have my own polluted ooze than take
my chances with some anonymous
donor which, though tested, with my
luck would come from the veins of a
Rhesus monkey I dated years ago.
Seeing my first fish bone tempts me to
bun myself, but I've already taken an
oath against the practice. |
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Yeah, the idea that your blood can be sent in fast enough time to be usefull is not on par. The idea that more people would potentially donate and then transfer the blood to needy organizations is a great benefit. While only 5% of Americans donate blood, many more than that travel to areas where they may feel that the health care system is inadequate. A mandatory pre-flight blood donatation would be great, you would also be able to find out if you got sick before or after your trip. |
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Obviously, correct me if I am wrong, as I am no doctor, but I did some research after talking to a Jehovah’s Witness (who don't believe in blood transfusions, I'm atheist, but open-minded) and blood transfusions seem over used. Most times straight saline would be fine. There are some normal hospitals that have pledged that transfusions are only used in extreme cases. The cases that require actual blood in necessary, I think for this service, some kind of concentrate of hemoglobin could be mixed with straight saline. This concentrate would be easier to store and ship. |
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PS I love that C.W. McCall song, though I can no longer remember all the words. |
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There are a whole lot of liquids (rarely
just saline) which are used for
transfusions. They usually contain a
variety of salts and sugars, plus various
colloids to give the correct osmotic
balance. These liquids are already used
in many instances, primarily to maintain
blood volume. There are also oxygen-
carrying artificial "bloods", but these are
used only when there is no alternative. |
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There aren't that many
cases where whole blood, or blood
products, are used unnecessarily at
present. JW's present a problem, and in
these cases it's obviously worth using
whatever you can. But in most other
cases, blood is used where it's the best
option. |
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