bowdenj

Donation: 04/14/06 Carmel, IN Indiana Blood Center. 1 unit whole blood 0+. Prior donation: 01/13/06.

Issues: None really - second nurse had to poke around after needle went into the arm (not my favorite activity) but then it was done in about 15 minutes.

BP: 132/78 HR: 56 TEMP: 98.0

Food: Coke, two oatmeal cookies.

Activity: Chatting with nurse (?) and ready WSJ.

robb

They continue to defer people for ridiculous reasons, several of which have been noted here. Therefore, I assume they don't really need any blood, so don't bother.

oldpenny16

Please don't spread bad information.

oldpenny16

You have saved lives.

robb

Nope, I'm serious. Even the military drags out kicking out the homosexuals when they need them. The blood banks must be doing fine and not need any blood if they are going to turn away so many people for arbitrary reasons. I don't support blood drives.

dizzy

The part I think is rather ridiculous is the questionaire. It seems they keep adding questions. I wouldn't be suprised if they added this:

Have you ever, since 1985, resided in the Southern Hemisphere for a period not less than 4 months and witnessed at least 1, but fewer than, 6 lunar eclipses and/or solar eclipses and/or full moons?

dhammer53

Note to self, time to call.

dh

Aus_Mal

I used to donate blood but had to stop several years ago

Nothing wrong with me, but apparently my blood false positive'd with one of the tests (wouldn't tell me which test).

There was never any concern about my health because they did follow up tests on my blood and they were clean, but the expense of doing the secondary tests and throwing away the blood (if the primary test failed, then they had to discard the donation regardless of any follow up testing) meant my donations were useless. This happened 2 or 3 times out of about 4 donations I believe. They were never able to give a reason why my blood False positive'd on the tests.

I can donate again when they change the testing agent. Not sure if they have or not but will try again in a year or so and see how I go.

Bundy Bear

I also had a high iron reading and had been giving blood for 2 years. Now my iron level is back to normal so I won't be giving blood for a while.

After being stabbed by the blood bank needle the little needle that I got for the flu shot was nothing.

And by the way you get used to the needle jab after the second donation.

BenjaminNYC

Here we go again...

kipper

I just donated blood today, while at work. Not a problem, other than I wasn't expecting to (I forgot they were having a blood drive today) so I wasn't well hydrated.

pdhenry

In my case it was a liver enzyme that they use as a quick check for Hepatitis. The secondary test was false but the Red Cross told me some time ago to stop bothering.

Since then they've generated the UK residency screen and I technically fail that one as well. If you lived more than -- I forget the exact duration -- 3 or 6 months in the UK in the early 80's they don't want your blood because of the non-zero risk of Mad Cow disease.

dhammer53

Quarterly bump.

dh

Spiff

Still ineligible for about 4 more months due to my visit to India last year.

exerda

CNN is now saying the feds are fining the Red Cross $4.2 million for not always asking the questions and potentially not always doing all tests on blood.

What annoyed me is when the Red Cross went from letting you answer the questions yourself to having the nurse ask them all to you (presumably to ensure people pay attention to them). For those who give blood frequently, it's really annoying to have to say, "No, no, no, no, no," to each one. It's even more annoying to have to have them look up the same code each time for OK'ing foreign travel to non-CJD, non-malarial regions. I'm often tempted to just lie on that question to avoid the hassle.