Blood consists of a variety of different "valuable assets" ("liquid" and "cells" in the blood) and donated blood would normally be "processed" to separate these "assets" and use/store them separately as needed.

- "red blood cells" which make blood look red and carry oxygen can be frozen in a special process and be kept for up to around a year

- "platelets" are blood cells which help to stop bleeding and are often needed by severely ill cancer/leukemia patients can effectively be used only for less than a week

- "granulocytes" are blood cells which help fight infections and are often needed by cancer/leukemia and other severely ill patients can effectively only be used for a day and hence are used only in highly specialized hospitals

- "fresh frozen plasma" is the "blood liquid without the cells" and contains chemicals helping to control bleedings and can be kept for apt to around a year.

So, we see that one single donation will usually help more than 1 patient in often dire need...

i only come to thailand for 4 months each year and i wa s thinkin of getting some stored locally in case i needd it myself but obviously i couldnt store enough to do muxch good in 4 months and the shelf life would not keep it from year to year. i better be reeeeeaaaaaal careful!

the whole "blood donation system" functions in essence on the basis of "mutual solidarity" where the objective is that, while "your" donation is given to someone else, someone else would have donated if "you" would needed it. Rather than "storing blood as a service" for individual use. But to keep such "solidarity based systems" going is not easy for a host of reasons. In some parts of the world it works well, in others it does not so well. Hence all the "many words" in this forum to raise awareness and instill a bit of motivation...

the whole "blood donation system" functions in essence on the basis of "mutual solidarity" where the objective is that, while "your" donation is given to someone else, someone else would have donated if "you" would needed it. Rather than "storing blood as a service" for individual use. But to keep such "solidarity based systems" going is not easy for a host of reasons. In some parts of the world it works well, in others it does not so well. Hence all the "many words" in this forum to raise awareness and instill a bit of motivation...

thats my point. even if thailand had a decent system, my O- would still be a problem by the look of it.

the whole "blood donation system" functions in essence on the basis of "mutual solidarity" where the objective is that, while "your" donation is given to someone else, someone else would have donated if "you" would needed it. Rather than "storing blood as a service" for individual use. But to keep such "solidarity based systems" going is not easy for a host of reasons. In some parts of the world it works well, in others it does not so well. Hence all the "many words" in this forum to raise awareness and instill a bit of motivation...

thats my point. even if thailand had a decent system, my O- would still be a problem by the look of it.

still, as the saying goes: "many drops make an ocean"... and if potential donors would see the faces of the real people who REALLY need it, they would see what a difference they can make with very little effort...

the whole "blood donation system" functions in essence on the basis of "mutual solidarity" where the objective is that, while "your" donation is given to someone else, someone else would have donated if "you" would needed it. Rather than "storing blood as a service" for individual use. But to keep such "solidarity based systems" going is not easy for a host of reasons. In some parts of the world it works well, in others it does not so well. Hence all the "many words" in this forum to raise awareness and instill a bit of motivation...

thats my point. even if thailand had a decent system, my O- would still be a problem by the look of it.

still, as the saying goes: "many drops make an ocean"... and if potential donors would see the faces of the real people who REALLY need it, they would see what a difference they can make with very little effort...

i know but that doesnt solve my short term problem and it looks like there is no solution.

I have an update concerning this but most of it is second-hand information - hopefully someone with first-hand information can correct any mistakes below.

On Friday one of our Baha'i Community (connected to the ISB community) received this request/link and asked me to send it to the emailing list for the Baha'i Community around Thailand. This I did.

Ryan of the Sukhumvit Baha'i Community (the Canadian guy mentioned above) has AB- blood and was able to contact the mother of the girl on Friday. He was told that the labs in the PraNungKlao hospital were closed over the weekend and he would have to go there today, Monday. The mother appreciated all the offers of assistance.

Ryan and two other Baha'is from the Sukhumvit community went to the hospital this morning. The girl was happy to see them and appreciated the offers of help. Her mother was not there so they couldn't get some the details. The three took some fruit to the 17-year-old girl.

They discovered that actually the girl did NOT have AB negative blood after all! :-( It seems she was A- and her body had rejected A- blood given to her. (And I heard she could even take A+ blood so it all sounds a bit confusing)... it seems it was all quite complicated...

Anyway, it seems the GIRL HAS RECOVERED, she and her Mum appreciate all the offered assistance, and Ryan's blood was not needed in the end.

Appreciation to all those who assisted with this.

I have an update concerning this but most of it is second-hand information - hopefully someone with first-hand information can correct any mistakes below.

On Friday one of our Baha'i Community (connected to the ISB community) received this request/link and asked me to send it to the emailing list for the Baha'i Community around Thailand. This I did.

Ryan of the Sukhumvit Baha'i Community (the Canadian guy mentioned above) has AB- blood and was able to contact the mother of the girl on Friday. He was told that the labs in the PraNungKlao hospital were closed over the weekend and he would have to go there today, Monday. The mother appreciated all the offers of assistance.

Ryan and two other Baha'is from the Sukhumvit community went to the hospital this morning. The girl was happy to see them and appreciated the offers of help. Her mother was not there so they couldn't get some the details. The three took some fruit to the 17-year-old girl.

They discovered that actually the girl did NOT have AB negative blood after all! :-( It seems she was A- and her body had rejected A- blood given to her. (And I heard she could even take A+ blood so it all sounds a bit confusing)... it seems it was all quite complicated...

Anyway, it seems the GIRL HAS RECOVERED, she and her Mum appreciate all the offered assistance, and Ryan's blood was not needed in the end.

Appreciation to all those who assisted with this.

What wonderful news indeed. This was pushed by the head of the school who is Baha'i so I shall pass on the good news. Thanks for all.