I became involved as a volunteer for NoBlood about 6 months ago. I stumbled on the site doing some research on bloodless medical treatment for postpartum hemorrhage. What I found was a treasure chest full of jewels of information that I could use, that my colleagues and professors in nursing school could use, that my personal friends could use, that even my close family members could use. I was grateful to find so much relevant information about bloodless medical issues and information in one spot, because I had spent a long time looking up individual bits of information that here had already been catalogued and presented and discussed!

NoBlood has been around for a decade. It began with a noble mission and vision of education of and service to the public on the general subject of bloodless medicine, including blood conservation, avoidance, and alternatives to the use of blood or blood products. It has served and still serves a very diverse population: those who have medical interest in the field of blood conservation/avoidance, those who have personal interest in the topic, those who have academic interest, and those who may have religious precepts that relate to the non-use of blood or products containing blood.

There are over four thousand registered members of NoBlood, although not that many are always actively participating. Many have been members since its inception, but there has been a large influx of new members just this past month: over 200 people registered on NoBlood in January 2007 alone! There are doctors, nurses, bloodless medicine hospital program coordinators, administrators, and other health care workers; there are housewives, blue-collar workers, students, consultants from related fields in medicine, PhDs, information technology personnel, editors, writers, the simply curious, and a host of other people – over twenty countries are represented in our memberhship. The majority have some important things in common: they care about their health, the health of their families and friends, the health of people in the community.

Visitors to and members of NoBlood alike want to be sure that the information they obtain here and may rely on as part of their medical care is the most current and accurate they can obtain. They seek health care facts and services that are the best they can find, reflecting the “cutting edge” of medical technology. They are looking for compassionate providers who care about their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Those who participate in providing information on the forums and in the sister NoBlood Wiki site are also concerned that the information they provide is timely, appropriate, and accurate. Individuals and institutions that provide such services can encounter persons here who need their support and assistance. NoBlood provides the environment within which these exchanges are made possible.

NoBlood has taken on the immense responsibility of providing forums, growing libraries of information in Wiki format, and a place where intelligent and caring participants exchanging views and discussing timely, relevant, and important issues make a difference to one another and the greater community at large. And yes, NoBlood matters even to those who don’t even know about it yet!
For some, a health crisis may stimulate a quick Web search for a medical treatment they heard of for the first time just yesterday in the office of a doctor they just met. They will use such search terms as “leukemia”, or “anemia”, or “bloodless”; they might type in “NovoSeven” or “novo7” or “Novo-seven”. Under any of those spellings, they will find a link to NoBlood. (In some cases, desperate patients who have been unable to get the treatment they want in their local hospital have been put in touch with doctors and healthcare facilities elsewhere that have filled their needs.) A nursing or medical student may have chosen to write a scholarly paper on some aspect of blood conservation and avoidance in the surgical setting. They will use search terms like “hemodilution”, “intraoperative cell salvage”, and “epidural blood patch”. They will find NoBlood on the first page of Google or Yahoo!, often at the top of the list of available sources. Now, they will find expert articles on the NoBlood Wiki that not only provide the most recent, most accurate facts about these procdures, but they will find pertinent academic references to prime their own scholarly work.

If their search has to do with any aspect of bloodless medical treatment, or touches on developments in hematology or transfusion medicine, chances are Web searchers will encounter NoBlood in the first page or two of Google or Yahoo!

How Does a Site like NoBlood Develop?

It started with the noble concept of service to others. It required dedicated time, energy, financial sacrifice, creativity, and technical expertise of a few amazing people. More people joined in supporting the effort by participating in the forums. At first, although those who weren’t a part of it don’t realize it, the financial outlay was tremendous - for hardware, software, domain rights, business and legal advice, and time that could have been spent making money elsewhere versus running a volunteer-supported public service website.

But it was important, critically important to some who refuse to accept blood or blood products, either for religious or medical reasons. Critically important for some who were rightfully concerned about the safety of the blood supply. Critically important enough that doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, people who had already been through certain medical experiences and who wanted to help others, got involved in relating their stories, providing information, offering assistance, directing to resources.

The helpers became members. They made posts in reply to questions, discussed ethical and moral issues, medical options, research. They told each other jokes and they got posted in The Lounge section of the site. Shared humor bolsters shared humanity, especially when people encounter each other only by electronic identities with cute little avatars and slogans by their names. Then, the helped became members, too. They told their friends, and they all exchanged ideas, help, resources through NoBlood.

As the Internet grew, as technology advanced, NoBlood did also, until it has become the premier site for resources and information on bloodless medicine and health care serving the needs of, not academia, not only doctors and nurses, but the general public. It is still guided by the original founders, with the same noble mission and vision. It is in a stage of even greater development right now.

A Heartfelt Appeal for Your Support

Today, NoBlood is still kept alive by the same dedicated founders. Although there is no big-money corporate sponsorship involved, the financial outlay has been tremendous, and is generally unrecognized by the majority of the members. We take for granted the ability to go online, click a button, write something, get a response, get our info, and leave. We don’t realize that someone works full time without pay to ensure site security, moderate conversations, maintain focus, produce and edit content, troubleshoot the hardware and software that are the framework of the site’s functioning. Who makes that possible? Whoever it is should be SUPPORTED by the rest of us. Rapid changes in technology have made it necessary to pay for new programs, new hardware, additional Web services, and so on, every few years or even sooner. The one who bears this burden for us should get something back from us by way of both retroactive and ongoing support.

If this sounds like public television “fund driving”…yup. It really is. Even though we don’t mean to, we all take this incredible service for granted. When the Editorial Team put articles in the NoBlood Bulletin reminding people of this, we got VIRTUALLY NOTHING in response. That cannot continue to happen and NoBlood still survive. You can’t pay for your groceries by writing to other customers in the market about the kind and quality of products found there, or providing free recipes to the clientele. You can’t get a meal in a restaurant by offering your compliments to the staff and promising to send more customers (who also don’t pay). But that is rather similar to what happens at NoBlood. We all use it…but who really pays even a little for the benefits we get? Do YOU?

So, do we as users value NoBlood and our involvement in it enough to keep it alive? Where else will this information be found as thoroughly researched, as unbiased, as current, and in as lively a format as here at NoBlood? Where else is the site security and integrity so profoundly respected and protected as here? Is it tacky to think of asking for financial support from our membership? The contribution link remains dismally unused month after month, but the service is financially supported by “someone”. That “someone” can’t be expected, like Atlas, to continue day after day, year after year, to bear the entire weight of this immense endeavor without OUR HELP.

Pick a number. $5, $10, $20? $50? Do it like public television. You know the drill. Contribute before it becomes necessary to interrupt service for a long, drawn-out fund drive. Picture hitting your NoBlood link and getting the message “Unable to find link. Site has moved or is no longer in existence…”

Don’t be cheap. Be generous, compassionate, and overcompensate for years of not having done this before. Support NoBlood financially.

__________________
Jan Grossberg, RN, BSN
Editorial Team