Last updated 12:39, Wednesday, 27 August 2008

The scene looks like a makeshift hospital in wartime, with lots of people lying on beds, while nurses bustle around them.

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Blood donors: ‘The scene looks like a makeshift hospital in wartime, with lots of people lying on beds, while nurses bustle around them. But none of these people are in pain. In fact they are all in good health – and in good spirits too’

But none of these people are in pain. In fact they are all in good health – and in good spirits too, smiling and chatting with the staff.

For the occupants of the beds are not casualties of battle. They are blood donors.

And their voluntary efforts, giving up half an hour once every 16 weeks, are saving thousands of lives.

Yet at this time of year the National Blood Service, which runs blood donor sessions, always encounters difficulty.

Hospitals in Cumbria need 327 blood donations every week to keep up with the combined demand.

But during the summer blood stocks start to drop, as regular donors go off on holiday. So the service is making a special appeal for those who can give blood to do so now.

At some point during our lives, one in 10 of us will need a donation of blood.

It is not just used for accident victims or others who have suffered blood loss. It is also used to treat illnesses as varied as leukaemia, other cancers, haemophilia and sickle cell anaemia.

Women who have just given birth and burns victims will also sometimes need to receive blood.

Most of the population can give blood. It takes no more than half an hour, a maximum of three times a year. Yet only four per cent of those who are eligible actually do so.

So what happens when you go along to a session?

At first the scene at the Methodist Church Hall in Wigton Road in Carlisle does look like the typical wartime hospital seen in films. But with music playing, people chatting and laughing and others enjoying tea and biscuits that impression soon disappears.

When I first arrived, nurse Victoria Gooch asked me to complete a health questionnaire to check I was able to donate.

Anyone who has recently had an illness or infection, or is at risk from HIV, hepatitis B or C or syphilis is not allowed to donate.

If you have visited the American continent between May and November you must leave it 28 days before donating, in case you have contracted West Nile Virus while abroad.

Anyone who has recently had a piercing, tattoo or acupuncture, or who has travelled to countries where malaria is common must leave it six months before donating.

Victoria ran through the questions with me, checking may answers.

Donors must also sign a form allowing their blood to be tested for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B and C.

The next step is, for me, the only painful part – a small needle prick in one finger. Victoria took a small sample of blood from my finer to check my iron levels were high enough for me to donate.

I then waited my turn for a bed to become free. I rolled up one sleeve and Victoria cleaned my arm carefully to ensure no bacteria would enter the blood. Then she inserted a needle into a vein.

Though a little uncomfortable at first, it is probably less painful than the earlier prick in the finger.

First, test tubes are filled, for testing and checking my blood type. There are four types, called O, A, B and AB. By far the most common, especially in the north of England, is O.

Then blood flows into a special plastic pack which collects 470 ml – roughly four-fifths of a pint. The process normally takes between 10 and 15 minutes. And then it is time for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

We are advised to take it easy for a while after giving blood. Staff recommend that we drink plenty of fluids – though not alcoholic ones – after the session and avoid any activities that might cause a hazard to others if we were to feel faint.

But within a day you won’t feel any effects. And it is a very small price to pay for knowing you have saved lives.

Anyone aged between 17 and 60, in generally good health and weighing more than seven stone 12 pounds (50 kg) can become a blood donor. Regular donors who start before 60 can carry on giving until they are 70.

Details of blood donor sessions in Cumbria are available by phoning 0845 7711 711 or visiting the website at www.blood.co.uk

ABIGAIL LENNOX gave blood for the first time as soon as she turned 17, the minimum age for giving. She was now donating for the third time.

The student, from Morton in Carlisle, has relatives who have needed blood transfusions and said: “Once you’ve had a family member go through it you realise how important it is.

“I’ve always been someone who likes to help other people and this is something you can do that doesn’t take much effort and only takes up half an hour of your day at most.”

Though donors are advised not to exert themselves immediately afterwards, it didn’t interfere with Abigail’s day.

She said: “I’m going shopping after this, so it hasn’t had much of an effect!”

ALEXANDER GEAR from Belle Vue in Carlisle first gave blood as a student aged 19.

That was 46 years ago. And now Alexander, aged 65, has donated 86 times.

He said: “I was a student living in Middlesbrough and some of the others were going so I went along. I’ve given two or three times a year since.

“I would recommend it. It’s not painful and it’s an easy way to help others.

“My daughter had to have blood when she had a caesarean, and I had given so many times I felt she was entitled to it!”