Should the Red Cross need to be ethically responsible through its blood donation practices?

Exemplary Subclaim arguments counter arguments

Across America, there are hundreds of organization and centers that are trained over health and safety issues by the American Red Cross. Free classes and demonstrations are given to the general public to enhance their awareness. Schools are also targeted as children are given valuable advice on safety and protection in times of calamities and disasters. More than 66 % of blood and blood related products are provided by the American Red Cross throughout the United States of America (American Red Cross).

Arguments

Red Cross is undoubtedly doing a great job in the field of blood provision, but, it might sometimes not fulfil its ethical duties and transfer contaminated blood that could have health risks for the people who receive this blood. There are reports that many people have become ill and have faced health problems due to the low quality of blood provided (Sibinga, Das & Greenwalt, 2012). The American Red Cross has been working under the conditions of the consent decree first delivered in 1993 which was then revised in 2003 in order to allow the FDA to impose the rigid penalties for the continuing failures so as meet the laws and regulations that govern the safety and quality of the blood supply of nation (Bloomberg.com, 2012). The issues that were identified later consisted of the similar problems that must not been addressed currently. These problems included sloppy clinical practices, overworked staff, and ineffective record keeping. The issues that were identified later consisted of the similar problems that must not been addressed currently. Therefore, these problems included sloppy clinical practices, overworked staff, and ineffective record keeping which depicted some of the unethical practices in blood donation of the American Red Cross organization..

Additionally, there is a need for Red Cross to be more vigilant and examine all the sources of blood and effectively screen the blood for any diseases before it can be transmitted to the body of anyone to ensure the quality of the blood. According to Forbes.com (2005), American Red Cross was fined $9.6 million after government auditors discovered several blood wellbeing infringements. Research in to the matter of blood quality issues has revealed that Red Cross has admitted to problems in the blood collection operations which caused health issues for many people to whom the blood was donated to (Sibinga, Das & Greenwalt, 2012. The people who are getting blood from Red Cross are in need of help and trust Red Cross for helping them. It is of utmost importance for Red Cross to take in to account many factors during the transportation and storage of the blood. For example, temperature is a factors that could impact the quality of blood over a certain period of time. Red Cross is a reputed organization, the people need it. It must prevent itself from being scandalized under any circumstances to gain more trust from the people instead of losing the existing trust. Such evidence definitely help us understand that Red Cross might have quality issues in their blood provision services and, therefore, Red Cross need to be more vigilant and examine all the sources of blood and effectively screen the blood for any diseases before it can be transmitted to the body of anyone to ensure the quality of the blood.

Counter Arguments

We cannot deny that Red Cross is serving many communities. Many argue that some problems may come natural which Red Cross may not be able to completely encounter at the first place. Therefore, we may not want to fully blame Red Cross for some problems that they do not intend to cause. Red Cross does not only work in the blood area. It operates on a large scale across the country providing humanitarian help. Red Cross has to work under strict budget and around 90% of people working for it are volunteers. The work of Red Cross is diverse from helping to stop the spread of measles, to helping resolve the issues of immigrants who cross in to the USA (Redcross.org, 2019). We should give Red Cross the benefit of the doubt because the main aim of it is to serve people and it does not want to harm anyone any harm. Criticizing it is easy, but helping it with more funds and trust is something what is primarily required. Red Cross serves a lot of people in a lot of different areas. It does not intent to commit any mistakes but they do happen accidently. We should not define who they are because of the occasional mistakes that are made.

The reports of compromised blood quality are definitely true. But according to many, Red Cross is not ignorant of it and doing all it can do to ensure the provision of quality blood to the people in need. Red Cross has introduced a DailyCheck QC Kit to keep an eye on the quality of blood collected from the donors and given to the people with guidance, “All blood products should be treated as potentially infectious.” (Redcross.org, 2019). This is what goes into the credit of Red Cross because it points to their seriousness in the provision of quality blood. Red Cross is indeed going in to extreme lengths to ensure the quality of blood. They are aware of blood been a really sensitive product which need careful handling. It seems they have learned from their past mistakes and doing all they can to ensure they serve people in the best way possible. The provision of quality blood seems to be the first priority of Red Cross. They have moved forward towards becoming a social welfare organization that wants to win the trust of the people by ensuring the quality of their blood at any cost.