10 March 2009

Gallagher declares year of blood... donors

| johnboy
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No it’s not the start of a leadership push.

Rather Katy Gallagher has named 2009 “the ACT Year of the Blood Donor”,

    The launch was held at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) Blood Donor Travelling Exhibition. The Exhibition, which will be in Canberra until 12 March 2009, encourages individuals to find out their blood type and highlights how ordinary Australians can help to save lives through blood donation.

    “It is estimated that 1 in 3 Australians will need blood products at some time in their lives,” Ms Gallagher said. “Yet just 1 in 30 Australians give blood.”

    “This year the Blood Service is appealing for more than 100,000 new blood donors, in addition to the 40,000 who registered following the bushfires in Victoria.”

I’m not allowed to give blood on account of being a mad cow. So the rest of you better get down there and bleed.

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Vic Bitterman10:57 pm 10 Mar 09

That’s a great link skid, thanks.

I haven’t really considered giving blood since my last time circa 1993, have been using the excuse of at that time when I fainted spectacularly afterwards, sending plates and cups crashing. I recall waking up on the floor…

Do you reckon I’d be OK again? Perhaps a question I need to ask the Red Cross!

I’d like to donate but I really hate needles, donating when I can watch naked guys might distract me enough . . .

Can I donate naked?

I reckon if I go and lend Kramer my blood for his bike accident the least he could do is pack me a liverwurst sandwich frankly.

*groooooan*

I love liverwurst sandwiches and sausage rolls and malted milkshakes. Bother this diet!!

i might get a tattoo of being scared of needles – nah, scotch that, will file into the bus again in work hours and give my fortieth donation next time round…

was better in sydney years ago when i started and they used to give you liverwurst sandwiches and sausage rolls and malted milkshakes. s’all good but, go and bleed people!

VG – who cares what someone looks like, if they do a good job then it shouldn’t really matter. Wait a sec – we’re talking about Katy – scratch that.

The FAQ on the Blood Service site only says within the last 12 months. So if it’s been over a year since you last saw some action you should be fine 🙂 Otherwise, if you meet the conditions as I stated earlier, you should give them a call.

Shame Katy didn’t declare it the year of doing her hair and dressing like a person in public office, not like someone who slept in the clothes she wore.

And yes, as a person in high public office a standard of appearance is a necessity (and don;t give me the old busy mother and politician crap, plenty of busy mums and dads take 30 secs out of their day to look unscruffy)

Steady Eddie4:12 pm 10 Mar 09

Kramer said :

Steady Eddie said :

Surprising to hear someone in the Stanhope government promoting an organisation and service which blatantly and openly discriminates against gay men. I wonder what Andrew Barr thinks about this?

If you are gay, have a monogamous relationship, practise safe sex, and have done so for 12+ months, then I can’t see why they would refuse your donation.

Wrong. Anybody who has *ever* had sex with a gay man is forbidden from donating.

I’ve been back in CBR three weeks after a decade in the UK. I’ll get my coat.

Steady Eddie said :

Surprising to hear someone in the Stanhope government promoting an organisation and service which blatantly and openly discriminates against gay men. I wonder what Andrew Barr thinks about this?

If you are gay, have a monogamous relationship, practise safe sex, and have done so for 12+ months, then I can’t see why they would refuse your donation.

If you get a tattoo, then you can’t donate for 12 months.

Although methinks there is a disproportionate number of people here who have lived in the UK for 6+ months 😉

If you’re scared of the needle – look away, exhale gently, and think happy thoughts 🙂
…and think of the milkshake afterwards (that’s if you’ve gone to the blood bank at Garran, and not the donormobile).

Steady Eddie4:02 pm 10 Mar 09

Surprising to hear someone in the Stanhope government promoting an organisation and service which blatantly and openly discriminates against gay men. I wonder what Andrew Barr thinks about this?

Pommy bastard said :

Which is a shame as I’m O rh-, the universal donor.

I’m a Universal Recipient… (AB+)

What does this mean?

Well, firstly it means that I can accept any bloodtype for transfusion, short of a fake blood made up of tomato juice that are used in movie props. That’s the good part.

Here’s the bad part. My blood is only good for myself, and 2% of the Australian population (e.g. it’s worthless to 98% of the population as they cannot accept my blood type).

So, for me to donate blood at the RC blood bank is not so dissimilar to dumping torn, unuseable, clothes at Vinnies…

(goes off to sulk)

Thanks Skid – I was interested in the eligibility. The tattoos and piercings rulings (along with mad cow) will probably keep me out of contention for at least another decade or so.

Thanks for the reminder, I’ve just booked my donation.
The very nice person who did the booking said there was a big increase in donations following the bushfires. But they’ll still have a big ongoing need for donations of plasma etc for burns treatments, as well as the usual increase in need for donations during winter when regular donors may be laid low with colds etc.

Pommy bastard3:15 pm 10 Mar 09

Skidbladnir said :

Quit making excsues, people.
Just call them and ask them to go over the eligibility criteria over the phone on 13 14 95.

Or do the online quiz on their website where you will find ;

“Lived in the UK for over six months between 1980 and 1996? Yes; Hope you had a ball, but itmeans you cannot donate.”

Which is why some here cannot donate,.

Quit making excsues, people.
Just call them and ask them to go over the eligibility criteria over the phone on 13 14 95.

Big ones for most people are:
Younger than 17 or older than 70?
Are pregnant now, or have given birth in the last 9 months?
Travelled to an ‘at-risk’ country?
Ever self-medicated with a needle, when it was not prescribed?
Had sex with gay\bi men this year? Sex with a new partner this year? Sex with a sex worker this year? Worked as a sex worker this year?

(or look here for the full list:
http://www.donateblood.com.au/page.aspx?IDDataTreeMenu=88 )

Just found out that you can’t give blood for 9 months after giving birth. Good to know 🙂 I will have to donate after then.

I guess so justbands, I find needles uncomfortable but not scary, and have tattoo’s
I guess when you are getting a tattoo, the penetration is not as deep, and you stand to gain soo much more.

It’s an entirely different psychological experience.

I’m not as bad with needles as I used to be. But I do remember fainting at high school when I got a rubella inoculation.

I have a tatt, and am getting another one soon & I too am scared of needles. Getting a tatt isn’t like a needle really….I mean, yes, it is…but it isn’t. I know that makes no sense.

You have tattoo’s and are scared of needles?

You know when getting a tattoo, that 9 needles a second

Does anyone know how long you have to wait after giving birth before you can give? I know you can’t while you are pregnant but that is about it…

Pommy bastard2:12 pm 10 Mar 09

Maybe the topic title should be changed to;

Gallagher declares year of blood… donors (If she can find any not mad cowed)

Madcow, tattoos … and scared of needles.

I’m a radioactive madcow.
I copped Chernobyl AND ate meat in UK during that period…

The blood takers creep away cautiously from me, but luckily my wife makes up for it!
I think she only does it for the ‘free milkshakes’ though… >.>

I am a regular donor. I donate during paid work time. It works for me…

They have recently revised the years and duration of UK residency for blood donors – so maybe you guys ahould check if you’re eligible now.

I always think of the blood bank like my own personal bank account… I’m making my semi-regular donations, as one day the mountain biking is going to go pear shaped, and I’ll be making a significant withdrawal.

Also I reckon they should make it mandatory for motorbike riders to give blood, as they seem to be the highest users of donated blood.

Anyway, I’ll be dropping off my pint at the donor mobile this week.

Yes, I’m potentially a mad cow too. Yet for teh brief time I was in the UK, I didn’t get to eat much beef! it cost too much then, they tended to use it more as a flavouring or a condiment.

Pommy bastard12:15 pm 10 Mar 09

I’m not allowed to give blood on account of being a mad cow. So the rest of you better get down there and bleed.

Ditto.

Which is a shame as I’m O rh-, the universal donor.

The UK blood donor service was crying out for me to donate, I was donating more frequently than the usual 6 monthly interval on more than one occasion,. In fact I have “medal” for 75 donations in the UK. They won’t touch the stuff with a barge pole here.

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