Tips on Donating Blood

[DottyG]

I was given all kinds of heck for not donating.

That makes me angry.  Not at you - at the people giving you a hard time.  There are so many reasons why someone can't give - medical and personal ones.  It could even be something like "I really don't like needles."  That's completely acceptable.

That's why, by the way, that I've tried to stress as much as possible in the Blood Donation thread that it's NOT just getting blood into the bag that makes a difference.  There are so many people who can't actually donate but are still doing such an incredible job in their own little part of the world - by volunteering at a donation site, by telling a friend about donating, by taking goodies to their local donation place, and lots of other things.

To be honest, just the fact that someone KNOWS something about blood donation - whether they donate or do any of the other things - counts as "success" to me.  Just the awareness of what it is is important to me.  And, what I want people to get out of the Blood Donation thread.  I don't ever want someone to feel bullied by that thread, because that's not the purpose at all.

[NOVA Lady]

Oh I never felt that way here at all!

[HeebyJeebyLeebee]

Thanks for the suggestions.  After reading more posts, I don't think a competition is the way to go.  We don't want to set up any bullying or pressure for people who either can't donate or choose not too. 

If there's another blood drive, I'm going to just volunteer to send out all the emails with statitics and fun facts about donations - I know I wish that more information about sickle cell anemia had been published considering many clients and employees are African American. 

I'm also going to suggest more door prizes and try to arrange for really high end snacks.  Food seems to be a good motivator at my office.  I'm going to see if we can get the Houston Texans or Astros to donate tickets to use for a door prize.     Or maybe a gift certificate to a coffee shop or nearby deli. 

Our regional blood center lets you build up credits for donations towards things like t-shirts, blankets, umbrellas, mugs, etc.  You can also donate your points back to the blood center to help cover admin costs or towards a new donor coach.  You have to sign up for the Commit For Life program.  I may play up that too -

So I think incentives are the way to go. 

[DottyG]

Bumping this up for cutejellybeen.  This is the thread I was telling you about.

Maybe there are some ideas in here for you!

[JoW]

Do NOT have a competition to get more donors.  If the Red Cross finds out about the competition they will reject all of the blood. 

The Red Cross will not accept blood from anyone who has used recreational or bodybuilding drugs by needle.  They will not accept blood from a man who has ever "played scrabble" with another man.  They will not accept blood from anyone who has ever sold their body.   That's part of the pre-donation health questions.  Some people are so determined to keep that part of their history hidden they will lie so they can donate for their team.  The no-competion rule reduces that possibility. 


See if you can get someone who was saved by donated blood or has a relative saved by donated blood to come talk to your office.  In my office one man almost lost a son to leukemia.  Transfusions saved him.   After hearing that we had several new donors.

[DottyG]

See if you can get someone who was saved by donated blood or has a relative saved by donated blood to come talk to your office.

I love this idea.  There are some stories that have really touched me in our own Blood Donation thread of people who were either saved or had loved ones saved by donations.  Hearing that the blood really does go to help someone is a sobering thought that brings it all home that it's really that important.  I am so grateful for the stories people share in that thread, because of just what you said - it can have a profound effect on you.

[Outdoor Girl]

Do NOT have a competition to get more donors.  If the Red Cross finds out about the competition they will reject all of the blood. 

Hmmmm... I don't think Canadian Blood Services has those rules.  But then, every pint is tested and there is also a last ditch box where you check whether or not your blood can be used, which doesn't get associated with your donation until after you give so it is completely anonymous.  If you check 'No, don't use my blood', it gets put into a research stream where it can be used in experiments but is never used for any kind of transfusion or blood products.  I've seen competitions between emergency services personnel, for example, and they do set up a challenge where you can let them know how many pints your office will donate in a year and invite other offices to match it or put up their own number.

[kareng57]

Do NOT have a competition to get more donors.  If the Red Cross finds out about the competition they will reject all of the blood. 

Hmmmm... I don't think Canadian Blood Services has those rules.  But then, every pint is tested and there is also a last ditch box where you check whether or not your blood can be used, which doesn't get associated with your donation until after you give so it is completely anonymous.  If you check 'No, don't use my blood', it gets put into a research stream where it can be used in experiments but is never used for any kind of transfusion or blood products.  I've seen competitions between emergency services personnel, for example, and they do set up a challenge where you can let them know how many pints your office will donate in a year and invite other offices to match it or put up their own number.

I'm in Canada so I suppose I ought to know whether CBS has those rules...but I don't.  I was a regular donor before I had my kids, but I was rejected later on because of the very slight possibility that the HCG hormone shots I got as fertility treatments could have been acquired from human brain tissue...If there was the possibility that my future donations could have been for research only, no one told me.

Overall, I'm really against workplace-donation-competitions.  Many people are not eligible to donate and they have no obligation to to make this information known to everyone concerned.  But when the donation-cheerleaders come around, then what are they supposed to say?

But re the PP - I agree, no testing is foolproof.  No matter what they're testing for - Hepatitis A/B/C, HIV, syphilis - there's a "window" in which the infection could have been acquired, but not yet detectable.  If a potential donor suspects that his/her blood might not be great, but expects the testing to give the yes/no - then no.  Do not donate.

[Julia Mercer]

I have a question, my sister and I try to donate blood as much as we can, but lately, they can't seem to find her veins on either arm, is there anything she can do to avoid that next time?

[faithlessone]

I have a question, my sister and I try to donate blood as much as we can, but lately, they can't seem to find her veins on either arm, is there anything she can do to avoid that next time?

Is it cold where you are?

When I could donate, I generally had a lot of trouble with my veins during cold periods. I think the nurse said something about the veins contracting / becoming small and difficult to find when my temperature was low. During the summer, it was much less of an issue.

Also, I've found that water makes most things better. It was helpful to drink several pints of water in the hours leading up to a donation.

(Everyone seems to be different though...)

[Snooks]

I'm made to drink a pint of water before I donate now at the donor centre, unfortunately it either makes me need the toilet or it makes me really cold in winter!  If you want to give faster move your thumb, one donor carer told me that your thumb is connected to lots more muscles so it makes you give faster if you move it in addition to wriggling your fingers.  I think giving in the cold does make it more difficult, at my last donation a girl had gone faint after giving so they had a fan on her and it made the place freezing (I don't cope well with cold anyway), I definitely gave more slowly than normal which was frustrating because I wanted to get away from the cold fan!

[daen]

My blood pressure is on the low end of normal, and I've "timed out" on a donation as a result. Apparently, the Canadian Red Cross (the collection service at the time) would end your bag-filling time at twenty minutes, regardless of whether or not you'd fill the bag. I was at 2/3 of a unit when I ran out of time.   In contrast, my Dad is a champion donor, (100+ donations, which is impressive when you consider that when he started, you were only allowed to donate once every six months) and his average donation time is six minutes.

I discovered, quite by accident, that mild sustained exercise raises my heart rate and keeps it up high enough during the whole process - from screening to snack - that a donation only takes me about ten-twelve minutes, sometimes less. If I can swing it, walking about a mile takes care of things nicely.

[scotcat60]

Blood donors in the UK can sometimes fall prey to "Hancockitis".

This is a condtion when, the patient being asked for a pint of blood replies "A pint! That's very nearly an armful!" According to the British Medical Journal some years ago it was a condition prevalent in people over the age of 40 who had watched the "Hancock's Half Hour" episode "The Blood Donor" starring Tony Hancock, a famous British comedian.
When we had a blood drive at work, we just turned up and donated, being asked on the spot about childhood illnesses etc. When my cousin donated at her work, everyone had a list of things that would bar donors from donating, cirulated round the office beforehand. These included having had one's ears pierced recently.

[Snooks]

It's rare it takes me more than five minutes to give a pint.

Were they saying that Hancock put people off donating?

[Rohanna]

As an interesting fact, in Canada women's blood and plasma products are never used "whole", as women's plasma runs the risk of triggering a reaction called TRALI (Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury). Women's blood products are used for research or turned into products like clotting factor treatments for hemophiliacs or other similar drugs.

The reasoning behind it is that women who have been pregnant (even if they never knew they were) can produce factors in their blood as a reaction to the fetus- and that triggers a reaction in some donor-recipients. There's no practical way to screen for it at the moment, and often donors would have no idea they'd had a chemical pregnancy decades ago (even if they could always be trusted to report it or remember it).