Blood Group

Having watched the video on Farangs in Nong Wua So (or wherever it was), Val made an interesting point that 'someone' should keep a list of people and their blood groups in case of an emergency. (rather than stockpiling the blood)

Now this would help me especially as I have O-neg blood - which means that I can ONLY receive O-neg blood.

Does anyone else have O-neg blood? Do you even know your blood group?

Should we consider starting a contact list?

Nick@AUA wrote:Having watched the video on Farangs in Nong Wua So (or wherever it was), Val made an interesting point that 'someone' should keep a list of people and their blood groups in case of an emergency. (rather than stockpiling the blood)

Now this would help me especially as I have O-neg blood - which means that I can ONLY receive O-neg blood.

Does anyone else have O-neg blood? Do you even know your blood group?

Should we consider starting a contact list?

Nick. Ralph Cusens on the talkers forum has a rare group, not sure what it is but he has a contact that shares the same one. Suggest you contact him .As for more general types I carry my medical ID card given me at AEK which shows what it is .They did , at my suggestion promise this would be added to all patients cards but I don't know if this happened .

Nick

This has been around a few years now, Gunns 123 AKA Khun Paul tried and it failed, using Udon Public hospital etc.



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wazza wrote:Nick

This has been around a few years now, Gunns 123 AKA Khun Paul tried and it failed, using Udon Public hospital etc.



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I don't know what you deem to be a failure. Whilst it may be true when extended to the wider area of Udon it certainly isn't here in Nong Wau Sor .There is in existence a computer record of most of us longer term residents detailing our blood groups and many farangs regularly donate . Unfortunately because I carry the Hepatitis anti virus I am not one of them .So in a limited local way I consider it to have been successful .

Val

U state because u have the Hepatitis anti virus , your unable to donate blood ??

Thats very interesting, as that would then include all those people who have been vaccinated with Hep A and B over the last 40 odd years.

I have never heard of Hepatitis antbodies being a cause of rejection for blood donation, The whole idea of having the vaccinations is to get antibodies produced.

Its quiet common for lay people to get confused when they get tested for Hepatitis A and B, as the test result is read as having antibodies, and people think they have the disease.

The situation @ this small hospital is fantastic, driven by ther expats there from what I have read.

The Udon Public hospital system hasnt got off the ground , like so many health issues here in Thailand, all the money for the development was possibly spent ofn start up seminar, then tours of other regions / districts , a further seminar to distribute their findings. Probably a recomendation to start something up and then it hasnt got the funding to get it off the ground as its already spent. I went to the Udon public system to donate and it was certainly an individual thing, with no data base or evidence of such.

I guess every country establishes their own rules/standards when accepting/using blood products,,,,,,, a somewhat scarey proposition,,,I would hope all would follow the World Health Organization rules/guidelines,,,,,

FYI,,,,, the American Red Cross and other US organizations will not let me or others donate blood because of time spent living in Europe (Germany 87-90) for fear of exposure to Mad Cow Disease. They continue to insist that no screening test exists to rule it out.....

The attempts to organize or institute an expat list of donor blood types is a most worthy one and I hope it will be pursued and not forgotten,,,,,,,,

The Australian Red Cross guidelines are available on this site

http://www.donateblood.com.au/page.aspx ... reeMenu=39

It does mention the UK Mad Cow exposure.

On this site it has a questionaire to take , and u will see the exemptions , eg new tattoo, IV drug use etc.

It also has info on flu vaccinations and blood donations.

Im sure the Thai Red Cross ( Chulla ) will have similar guidelines .

No mention of having been vaccinated for Hepatitis A or B as exclusions.

From the American Red Cross web site regarding Mad Cow Disease and donating:

"At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or
From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK). The UK includes any of the countries listed below.

•Channel Islands
•England
•Falkland Islands
•Gibraltar
•Isle of Man
•Northern Ireland
•Scotland
•Wales
You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

•From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany
•From 1980 through 1996 - Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece.
You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, including

•in the UK from 1980 through 1996 as listed above
•on or associated with military bases as described above, and
•in other countries in Europe as listed below:
◦Albania
◦Austria
◦Belgium
◦Bosnia/Herzegovina
◦Bulgaria
◦Croatia
◦Czech Republic
◦Denmark
◦Finland
◦France
◦Germany
◦Greece
◦Hungary
◦Ireland (Republic of)
◦Italy
◦Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
◦Liechtenstein
◦Luxembourg
◦Macedonia
◦Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
◦Netherlands (Holland)
◦Norway
◦Poland
◦Portugal
◦Romania
◦Serbia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
◦Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
◦Slovenia
◦Spain
◦Sweden
◦Switzerland
◦Turkey
◦Yugoslavia (Federal Republic includes Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia"

To all: Didn't mean to hijack nick@aua's thread here,,,,,,,,,,,,, only trying to pass on important info,,,,,,, I just spent awhile trying to get blood donation requirements from the Thai Red Cross web site and was unsuccessful.

This has been done to death, despite organising a week where a certain p[erson was in fact sitting in the Udon gen Hosp blood bank which is in Blg 10 if my memory serves me correctly and with not one FARANG TURNING UP I DESPAIR OF EVER ORGANISING ANYTHING. I am like Nick at AUA O rhesus negative, gicve to everyone but in fact can only recien O neg. which accounts for about 0.1 % of the Thai population.

So for us its a tad dicey.

Constantly giving is the way forward, I appreciate that some feel that only giving when required would be better, but there you are a difference of opinion already.

There are other ways to obtain blood , now-days what with all sorts of blood derivatives and other ways, it would be bad if one really required a lot of O neg blood, but that applies to many blood groups, the Thais constant unwillingness to provide is amazing but there you are .

The fact that NOT donating can cause a problem as well as donating, the Thais stopped at 60 but I convinced them that 65 was better for the foreigners, but in fact not that many would be able to give in any event due to their lifestyles and other reasons mainly infirmities or other illnesses which pre-cludes the giving of blood.

Soi ggod luck to anyone who wants to set up something, but I do really feel you will be onto a loser here, so many damm complacent people both Thai and Foreigners.

So Paul - you are O neg also? That makes 3 of us anyway.

If you take a look at the Blood group compatibility table here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type

you can see that O− can donate to any other group, but can only receive from the same group, and AB+ can only donate to AB+, but can receive from any group.

i have group "O" rho d negative. pretty rare .
always willing to help if necessary.

Nick and all those with the O neg blood group ( ie those most at risk)
I did in fact do a 30 min blurb on Home cable TV about the appalling state of Blood collection and availability in Thailand generally.
The facts I have out lined supported by Nick are accurate to date only 0.1 % of Thais are O rh neg and they have problems.

Luckily only in severe cases does one in fact need O Neg blood , but it is a problem and one that makes one possibly be a lot more careful. Other fluids ie plasma and other innocuous fluids can assist where it is required for ops and the like, however in the case of vehicular accidents the problem could be dangerous.

Even the so-called emergency people do not read or even understand emergency necklaces or bracelets, so I have prsonally made it my aim that every hospital I am registerein, AEK, Wattana, Udon gen, my docs state not only O rhesus negative but also allergic to pennicillin, in fact BUPA also have the listing for my blood group and allergy.
providing no-one takes my wallet, all contact details and info is in there as well..

In this country you cannot be too careful.

Also my friends here are aware, as I am of their blood groups, as Thai tend to panic big time if anything goes wrong and would probably forget the important info.

KP

u forgot the tattoo on the forehead, just to make sure 100% , someone will see it.

Seriously, congratulations for your self motivation here and looking after an isue that could cause you a problem.

U can be assured that major ER rooms in western countries will pick up your bracelet - How ! well they use metal detectors on most patients coming into ER !

I am fully aware that in the so-called western world ER patients incoming get checked for anything to alert the staff, but in those countries, Ambulance men can be normally trusted and once you are in an AMBULANCE if you are alive you will probably be alive when pou arrive at the HOSPITAL.

here it is a different ball game, your life is literally at risk whenever you leave the confines of your home or even UDON THANI, as what would take me a 10 minute trip takes the average ambulance at least 30 mins, and they are so very basic in their equipment and slow.

I remember when I was attacked in Udon, the bloody hospital would not deal with me until they were assured I was insured, smacks of the USA , IT WA DIFFICULT TO TALK WITH A BROKEN JAW BUT I MANAGED. I was not impressed, so now on top of alerting them to my blood group, they also every year are advised of my insurance details together with expiry date.

Cos IF YOU DON'T NO OTHER BUGGER WILL TRUST ME.