Cass raises his hand; "Cass Sato-Rhodes, sir, Gryffindor 2nd year and Half-blood. As several have mentioned the blood would come from a blood bank where it is checked and tested to be sure it is clean, or that nothing is wrong with it, or from a direct transfusion from a healthy donor of the same blood type to the one that needs the blood." He takes a breath... "Also only a given amount is normally taken so as to not harm the donor in any case. As to the plasma donations, I believe that is the base part of blood. The part that moves it around the body, and the 'red' part is the part that helps keeps us alive."

Cass is rather glad that his father and mother had him take that emergency responder course over the summer, but then his mother's family while wizards always emphasized learning how to fit in to a muggle city properly...

Threads will be closed in a few hours...as soon as I'm back up. ^_^
 

Oh good. They knew what he was talking about. At least most of them did. Some of the purebloods and the ones who were not really acquainted to the Muggle world were quite shocked to hear that the blood had to be taken from other Muggles. No, there was no blood replenishing potion in the Muggle world.

"Yes, the doctors in the hospitals who need blood for a patient normally get it from so-called blood banks, like some of you mentioned already. The blood banks get the blood from willing donors who have donated their blood in order for it to be used for exactly that, if somebody needs extra blood to survive." Awesome, eh?

"Now, unfortunately there are a few problems with this system, as not everybody's blood can be used for various reasons." Nodding at Helena who had first mentioned it, he added, "We had the problem that people can only receive blood of the same blood type as theirs. Any other possible problems?" Jeremy had turned to write 'different blood groups' onto the blackboard and was now waiting for more suggestions.

Kurumi pondered Professor Zookara's latest question. Outside of not matching a patient's blood type, what sort of problem was there? Was there a change that the person's body might reject the blood even if it were a match? She shivered at that thought.

"Professor, if you were sick and donated blood...would that produce a negative result? When you are sick, say with a chest cough or soar throat, your body's immune system is working over time and therefore the white blood cell count could be down." She scratched her head. That made sense, sort of. "I suppose it would be a problem if you donated blood and had any sort of medical condition. Your blood would be unhealthy and perhaps cause more damage than good."

Problems with blood.....well besides the fact that it was deliciously attractive to Vampires, Patroclus thought he had another answer...


"Not some much as a problem with the blood, more so an issue with the act of donatinf blood, if someone hasn't had plently of water before donating, the extraction process can be rather painful, and often result in dark bruising around the puncture site. The increased water intake, helps to thin the blood, so that it travels up the needle faster, so not only would it mean there's no bruising the whole ordeal would be over faster!" But he had more, Patroclus was rather enjoying the lesson......perhaps he was a vampire? Nope he loved the sun too much, "Also after donating, one must eat plenty of natural sugar rich food, so that they don't faint from the loss of blood!"

With brows furrowed in confusion, Sierra sank down in her desk. Why would someone want to mix their blood with another person's? Sure, it was all to save lives and the such, but this was a hard concept for a pure-blooded child to comprehend. In the wizarding world, people were often times classified by the type of blood they had in their body. Was it just not that simple for Muggles?

She cast off the thought and then raised her hand. "What if a person has a disease or illness in their blood, and they don't realize it? If they donate their blood to another person, the disease or illness could spread," she suggested. "...or will spread," she added a moment later. Clearly, the Muggles needed a better of way of helping others. The whole donating blood idea seemed pretty sketchy to her.

Sharing blood. Still disgusting sounding. K-Lee had no idea why anyone would want to do it. Even if it did save lives, why didn't the magical community help?

"If someone has the genes for a disease or illness in their system, even if they don't have the actual disease the person who receives the blood can get it." K-Lee answered, thinking back to the little she knew.

Oh, somebody had paid attention when she had been taught about the human body. Close attention. Smiling at Kurumi Jeremy nodded slowly and after a short moment of hesitation added her suggestion to the blackboard. "Well, if it's something minor like a soar throat or a cough or something then it wouldn't be a problem for the recipient of the blood. However, normally people whose immune system is weakened are not supposed to donate blood, nonetheless because it could be bad for them. Their body might not be able to cope." Still, it was a problem with blood donation.

They were all so clever. Especially the Gryffindors. "Yes, absolutely right, Patroclus. Which is why before being allowed to donate blood everybody has to see a doctor for a quick check-up to make sure their blood pressure and such is alright." Jeremy agreed with a nod before adding with a grin, "Yes, it's advised to have something which contains a lot of sugar afterwards. They often hand out coke and/or chocolate."

At that he turned to grin at the rest of the class. "So, if you go donate blood then you get free chocolate." DO IIIIT!

Sierra still seemed a little appalled by the thought of exchanging blood with somebody else. Well it wasn't exchanging, it was just either receiving or donating blood. Of course, somebody who was concerned about their own blood status could fret about something like this.

"Yes, that is one of the main problems. If the donor is ill, the disease is very likely to be transmitted to the recipient. Which is why the blood is always tested for diseases like malaria or HIV before given to the blood banks." Jeremy explained while adding it to the list on the board.


Turning to face the whole class again, Jeremy continued in a sort of drawl, "Like a few of you have already mentioned before the Healers and Mediwizards simply use a so-called Blood Replenishing Potion." They would have to ask Hecate about any details on this. "Like the name suggests, whoever drinks this potion, their blood level will simply fill up again if they have lost blood. So there is no donor needed." Was it very obvious that he wasn't really enthusiastic about what he was teaching?

"There is one main point which the wizarding version lacks however. The feeling of having helped somebody. People who donate blood are mainly doing this because they want to help other people with it." He let his eyes roam the class for a moment before adding with a small smile, "Think about it. Class dismissed."