The people of Puerto Rico are called to increase their direct collaboration with the health authorities through blood donations that are crucial to improve medical interventions in hundreds of cases in which having this fluid is crucial to saving lives.
Although it is estimated that 60% of the population on the island is suitable for donating blood, only 5 to 6% go regularly to centers where people can undergo a simple voluntary process that allows extraction, processing and storage. blood products, essential in emergency interventions or other hospital treatments.
The health authorities indicate that here it would be adequate to obtain 300 units of blood daily. However, the average donation is about 150 units each day. Due to the shortage of blood products, which include platelets and plasma, among others, critical situations have occurred as was the case during acute periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing those supplies will reduce this and other serious risks.
It is necessary to broaden education to citizens about the importance of donating blood and guide to eradicate misinformation that can discourage the valuable management of giving life to patients with seriously damaged health. As part of those efforts, it is necessary to disclose that certain regulations have changed to expand the potential for donations. In this sense, it can be highlighted, for example, that certain minors, from the age of 16, can donate blood, with the consent of their parents, as well as diabetic patients, if their condition is controlled.
Blood is the most important component in trauma units. This is highlighted by doctors who work on the island, where the majority of patients with this type of diagnosis are involved in traffic accidents, falls or have been victims of criminal attacks, mainly with firearms. In the case of automobile crashes, the number of injuries, mainly with polytraumatic injuries, fluctuates from 30,000 to 36,000 each year.
Most people who suffer severe trauma on the island are referred to the Río Piedras Medical Center. Due to the high volume of patients there, it is necessary to increase its staff of medical technologists and other specialists in the Trauma Hospital. At these facilities, a frequent challenge is achieving prompt blood transfusions, among other critical interventions, to stabilize and save the lives of adults and children.
In Puerto Rico, medical authorities have documented that half of the people who die from one to multiple traumas die from bleeding. Meanwhile, in surgical interventions, the lack of blood for a patient is also a cause of death. Hence the extreme importance of increasing supplies at local blood banks.
Knowing testimonials from donors of blood, platelets and other blood products will move you to emulate them. The government, as well as the private sector, should ensure the participation of these people in forums and conferences. The intervention of medical technologists and other health professionals is also key in these initiatives. In addition, bloodletting should be promoted in workplaces and it should be made easier for workers to invest time from their workday to donate.
A similar management must be replicated to also stimulate organ and tissue donation. Medical advances allow today to donate kidneys, lungs, pancreas, corneas and the heart. In addition, bone tissue, heart valves, and intestines can be donated. The gift of life that these donations represent has immeasurable value. It is urgent to raise awareness about it because 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant in the United States. On the island, the waiting list of patients at the end of 2022 amounted to 300 people.
The comprehensive dialogue on the donation of blood fluids, organs and tissues must prevail in Puerto Rico. In this way, with the detachment and solidarity that characterizes us, the country will be able to assume a vanguard banner focused on vigorously contributing to the recovery of the health of thousands of patients.
