It's been some time now, so I thought that I could make another post about giving blood. During summer, blood banks are low because people don't necessary think about giving blood when the weather is fine, life is good and everything seems to go according to plan. But the fact is that blood banks need donations all year round. So if your health allows you to do it, please take some time and go to a blood center and save lives. Thank you.
Claude.

Bless you, Claude, for having the presence of mind and taking the time to post on this incredibly important and necessary topic. I wish that I would have thought of it ... because ...

I work in the Laboratory of a very busy trauma hospital in California. I perform the testing on the patients that is required to assure a healthy and life saving outcome for transfusion of blood from one person to another. I am in the thick of the front lines on the crippling shortages that show up every year in the summer (and at Christmas/End of the Year) timeframes. It is important that everyone realize, the shortage is real, and lives are in the balance every day that we do not have stock. Over 30% of the US population is qualified to donate blood; only 3-5% actually take the time to do it.

Here is an interesting fact that I have found out over the last several years about donations. With the aging population taking so many medications, often many of those of a "certain" age have to be rejected for donation. This is because their blood will have the drug in it, and it cannot be given to another person or they will get the medication too. So, here in California, we simply would not have enough volume to meet the need without the dedicated donations by young folks (especially high school (> 17 years old) and college age young adults). These young people are keeping countless other people, babies, and neonates alive here in California. They also tend not to be taking any prescribed medications, and are excellent candidates for donation. So, if you have contact with any young adults, please encourage them to donate too.

We had a premature baby born in our hospital, and he took quite a bit of product. However, since they require small volumes, a big adult unit can be split in small sizes and transfused over time. In the end, this child went home because 3 anonymous people cared enough to donate blood. Those 3 people changed the future, and thus, the world. You can too. I see it every day.

Hey WhatsThatSmell, thank you so much for your support. I'm a car mechanic, so when I talk to people I know about blood donation, I can only relate to my personal experience as I don't have the numbers and the facts like you do. I bring back this topic a few times per year because over time, I learned that it is unnescessary to make people uncomfortable with it, so I don't push it too much, nonetheless, it is very important that education and information reaches the potential blood givers because it is not in our blood to give blood. You have to want it and take the time to do it.
I am lucky enough to have a blood center within a fifteen minutes car ride from where I live, I am not sure if we can go to a hospital to give blood, but from the start, the places where you can give are limited. When you step in, a nurse take your blood pressure, your temperature, they perform a quick test about the iron concentration in your blood and you can be rejected right there and asked to come back a few days later if you are not on top of your health. They give you a card with phone numbers to call if you have fever or don't feel well even a few days after your donation. after that they have a thirty or so questions form to fill about your general health and life habits like safe sex, if you've been in jail, if you have been tatooed, mad cow disease, cocaine sniffers, drugs injections and so on. So WTS, I am not surprized if you come up with the 3 to 5% number of the population who can actually and safely give blood.
Also, the blood type repartition is not equal, some blood types are more common than others. So some blood types are always in critical quantities in blood banks. My blood type is "A+" and they are very happy to se me every time I step in to give blood at Hema Quebec. Hey, they are happy if anyone comes in also. I never heard them say, "Sorry, our blood bank is full, come back in a few months".
So if you never gave blood before and feel uncomfortable about it, the next time that you'll see a flying blood collect team in a shopping mall or at work, take a few seconds to inform yourself about the process, because these few seconds could save lives in the long run. Once you're in the blood center, the donation process will take one hour of your time at most and after that they feed you with free juice and cookies.
As I said, I don't know much about the details of the whole blood donation process, just enough to feel the need to talk about it from time to time. Please feel free to add any relevant informations and/or personal experience to help people consider to give. Trauma units, surgery rooms, ambulances need blood every day. This is just an information thread, not a rant. Some people can't give blood and they shouldn't feel bad about it, there is other ways to help. All I wanted to do was to make people THINK about giving blood.
Claude.

Hey Claude,
Excellent message. I use to donate blood in Toronto every 56 days (that is the limit) for years. I try to convince people to donate as much as possible. It is the only status update that I do on facebook, telling people to donate and giving the number. I am not sure if I have ever convinced anyone.

I now donate platelets instead of blood. Platelets are in your blood and are the clotting factor within your blood. They are mainly given to cancer treatment patients because the chemotherapy wipes out the platelets of those people. Just as a reference, the average person has about a 150 count of platelets in their blood, you are considered to have a low platelet count if it is at 110, and high if you have 200. chemotherapy patients have literally 3-4.

So I do that every two weeks downtown Toronto (it is the only place i know f that does it)
They can get platelets out of a blood donation but not much. It takes about 3-4 blood donations to get the same amount of platelets that I donate in one sitting. The upside is that they have a machine that processes your blood, filters out the whole blood, extracting the platelets and sometimes plasma, and then returns your whole blood back to you. It is really amazing.

So if anyone living in Canada wants to donate blood call 1-888-2donate
and if you feel up to it, you can ask about platelet donation

either one helps

Thanks for your input sfmelo1980, yes either one helps and as I said, there is other ways to help, but giving blood and it's by products is a must that can be accomplished only by a few. So these few must be informed or reminded from time to time. Thanks again.
Claude.

With my latest donation last June, I am now a 6 Gallon Donor Think of it as volunteering for a really worthy cause, like what Chet is doing for his MS fundraiser. It only takes about an hour, and unlike donating money, you never have to worry if if your donation is going to be properly spent or just frittered away - your blood donation will have a direct positive impact on a real person's life.

It's really not that uncomfortable these days. If it has been a few years since your last donation, they have made a lot of improvements to make the whole process much more comfortable, even the finger stick! (My only concern is to make sure they do the finger stick on my non-fretting hand ) And they have cookies!!!

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+1 strato, they need one drop of blood to determine the iron level in your blood, they stick my finger on the side, too much calluses. They like regular donors but they also gladly encourage sporadic donors too. I gave blood myself yesterday and it reminded me to revive this post. Thanks for your input.
Claude.

I used to work in a hospital so it was expected the we donate. I feel good about helping out, so I donate when I can. I have 0 neg so I'm popular. I went to the Rec Center to work out and they had a blood drive so I donated instead. I donated platelets this time. For those that donate sign up for the redcross racing you get points everytime you donate. You can redeem your points to get the typical prizes; folding chairs,t-shirts, etc. This year you can donate your points back to the Red Cross. They use the points to buy gift cards and help families of armed forces. So I gave em mine back. its the least I could do for the guys and gals. Besides I get juice and oreos after I donate. Can't put a price on that. Please donate.

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I donated blood when I was younger, as I have gotten older my health requires me to take medication that is compatible with donating. My thoughts are with you and all of those who are able to donate. Thank you for caring about your fellow humans in need.

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Thank you SBLS and jmr986 for your contribution to this thread. As I said, donating blood is not for everyone, if someone can't donate blood for whatever good reason, he shouldn't feel bad about it. There is so much other ways to help. For the small percentage of the population who can donate, an occasionnal reminder is sometimes all they need to realize the situation and act consequently. Most of the time, blood is associated with car crashes, sport injuries, dramatic surgeries, war and so on. always a negative image. On the other hand, we see fake blood everyday on tv shows, video games and movies so the relation that most of the people have with blood is remote or fake. Information and education must be a positive alternative to make people think about blood and blood donations. I am well aware that there won't be a thousand readers for this post over the weekend. Might not even make it to one hundred, but every small contribution counts.
Claude.

Hi Gang
Ive tried over the years to give. I think they like me to come in just for the "show"... It seems that just a couple minutes after its over... I pass out and hit the floor

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

I've seen it happen two times. I couldn't believe that big guys, six foot tall grown up would pass out just like that but it is true. Willing to donate is not enough, you also have to be able to do it with your body and your mind. It only goes to show that it is not for everyone to be able to donate and emphasizes the fact that it is vital that someone, somewhere, who can, does. Thanks Bill.
Claude.