Why is there blood donation shortages

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Ok or why can’t we donate blood like we do organs? What I mean exactly is why can’t we harvest/drain a newly deceased body off all its blood and platelets? With the amount of people who pass everyday surely there would be enough.

In: Biology

5 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The Soviet Union did drain cadavers of blood for donations, so it is possible. And it worked fine, or as well as any medical procedures worked in the Soviet Union. I mean, medical procedures in the west worked fine too in the 1950’s-1980’s. Not necessarily what you would want from standards of care today, but in 30 years we will think the same things about standards of care of today. There are potential medical complications, but this is why blood is tested no matter where it comes from before it is given to recipients. However, the thought of receiving dead people’s blood is so culturally repugnant in most of the world that we don’t do it.

Also, a big part of the reason the Soviets could do it was that they could just mandate it. Healthy person died of trauma? Harvest the body for the good of the people, comrade. Don’t ask the family what they want, just do it.

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