I gave blood!

gspren · December 21, 2023, 05:34:56 PM

Jim, are you drinking extra water starting the day before you donate?

Jim_Rogers · December 21, 2023, 06:55:50 PM

Quote from: gspren on December 21, 2023, 05:34:56 PM
Jim, are you drinking extra water starting the day before you donate?

Yes sir, had three bottles before I went in.

Jim Rogers

LeeB · December 21, 2023, 07:09:40 PM

I went yesterday. Got the same person as last time and she had a hard time again but the supervisor got a good flow going. Stayed good right up until the bag was just almost full. She worked with it and got barely enough. To be able to get enough for the tubes she put a pad under the needle to prop it up a little. I felt like they were too shallow the whole time but said nothing. They tend to get more flustered when I try to help them.

Ljohnsaw · December 21, 2023, 09:29:01 PM

As I mentioned above, my local blood bank was bought up by a national syndicate. They opted to drop the Frequent Plasma program.

So last Monday was my final donation for this year and my "losses" under the old program knocks me out til 3/5/24 under their regular program. That will be just a platelet donation. Not the old platelet/plasma one.Then my next donation has to wait until 4/15/24.

I would have rather the transition/break happened over the summer when I'm typically up the hill working, not sitting around the first part of the year waiting for snow to melt.

Oh well.

red · January 14, 2024, 07:44:58 AM

Red Cross announced emergency blood shortage calls on Americans to donate

peakbagger · January 14, 2024, 08:51:54 AM

I had a rough day at the blood drive a week ago, took forever for the tech to get set up and then he had a problem putting in the needle. I have no idea what he did but it wasnt a little prick or a bit of burn from the cleaner they use, this was real sustained painful, he messed around a bit then called in a supervisor and she messed around for awhile until calling it quits. They didnt get a drop of blood. I let them do my other arm which also took forever to get set up but that one went in okay. No bruising at the first site but my arm hurt for 2 days afterwards (longer than normal). I was well hydrated to the point where I had to stop the setup and go get rid of some of excess hydration. The supervisor commented that they can tell how well hydrated someone is by looking at how well the vein bounces and mine bounced.

I am in rural area and the blood drives are usually small with maybe 3 techs. They are usually sponsored by an organization and the organization fills up the slots with their members before they open it up to the public. They fill up quick and by the time I get a text about an emergency need for blood, the spots are full. Usually when I run the search my only options are a blood center 100 miles away. There are also 3 Red Cross blood centers roughly equidistant and frequently the search for drives based on zip codes is incomplete. I usually need to enter a couple of different zip codes about 20 miles apart for all the remote donation sites to show up. I try to give every 3 months but it may take me 2 months to get a slot nearby. The other issue is the various incentives they say in the texts they are giving out. The remote drives rarely if ever have anything and usually the gift cards never appear. I think I got one out of three tries.

I have run of the mill blood, I sure hope they handle the rarer blood types better.

doc henderson · January 14, 2024, 09:19:50 AM

Things are better than they were. for a while we only got a few PRCs. now we have more. I am sure that they have trouble getting and keeping staff. some are nurses that like the travel and others are techs, hired and trained off the street so to speak. all of their training and experience if from that job. My wife's friend that she donates with had a series of bad experiences. Most of them was starting to pass out and be dizzy after donating. not their fault. Please hang in there. most will go to trauma victims and cancer patients including children. you are saving lives.