A Walking Blood Bank

The sirens were screaming and wailing as the ambulance screeched to a halt at the emergency room doors. A team of doctors and nurses greeted the paramedics and quickly wheeled the injured patient inside the hospital. The paramedics shouted, “We have an unconscious male, mid-thirties, high-speed MVA, ETOH involved, current BP 60/32, pulse 140, resps 42, 02 Sat 99% on 100% non-rebreather, Temp 36. Right AC line in, fluids wide open! Known injuries sustained to abdomen, right arm, and bilateral lower extremities. Internal bleeding suspected, query spleen laceration.” Without delay, one of the ER doctors said, “Get routine labs, we will need an X-Ray & CT Scan, and call the blood bank! This patient needs blood STAT!” Blood transfusions are a common need after traumatic accidents and injuries. In the United States and Western World, most of our hospitals are fully equipped with blood banks and those of us blessed to live there do not have to worry about blood being available if we ever need a blood transfusion. But, what do you do when your hospital is a floating ship in Africa? The hospital on board the Africa Mercy is absolutely amazing and has an incredible laboratory, but the equipment needed to store blood and run a blood bank is extremely expensive and complex and we do not have the luxury or capability to house such equipment in our small lab. Most of the patients we operate on do not require blood transfusions because their cases do not usually result in extreme blood loss and we take all precautions necessary to avoid the need for transfusions. With that being said, there are still the emergency surgical situations when it is a matter of live and death; one of our patients needs a blood transfusion. What then? Do we call the Red Cross or the local clinics and hospitals for blood? Nope, that is not an option. Conveniently and providentially, many of the crew on this ship are willing to give their all for the patients here and for them to know that God loves them. We have a “walking blood bank” of about 350 crew members! We are the blood bank! God has given many of us many talents and gifts and one of those gifts is health. So, here in Africa, on the ship, we have an option to share our health with our patients and give them our blood. As soon as I came to the ship I signed up to be a blood donor. Up to this point, my blood has not been needed, but just this past week I was sitting in my cabin and got a phone call from the hospital lab; they needed to match my blood type for a patient having surgery. I gladly rushed to the lab for them to perform the proper tests to see if my blood was compatible with our patient anticipating surgery. It was a match, praise God, because out of our “walking blood bank” only two of us had the blood type that this patient needed. If the surgery we are going to perform has the possibility of resulting in a huge blood loss, we match blood types before the operation to guarantee there will be blood available if needed. If no donors are available, sadly, surgery is postponed or cancelled. The same day that my blood was typed and crossed, I worked a night shift. I was reviewing charts in the middle of the night and looking at my patient’s lab work. I was making sure everything was in order for the operations scheduled the next day and there it was in my hands… The lab work in my very hands reported the patient’s blood had successfully been cross matched to a donor with AB+ blood… I paused… I was my patient’s blood donor match! What an awe inspiring, intense moment; I may have the chance to give my own patient, my blood… It is hard to describe all the emotions I felt in that moment. One thing I do know is I have AB+ blood and my very life belongs to God and in His name, I offer all I have.