How About Donating Blood As Well As Organs?!

I’ve gone as far as to suggest to a Doctor that they cut me with a knife & pour the drugs into the wound rather than give me a needle….they wouldn’t.

Agree with you Blueberry, but I think you severely underestimate needle phobias. I would love to give blood, but I go to pieces even going for a simple blood test.

blueberry said :

>There you go, I’m paying for someone else to donate. My duty is done 😉

Nope your not if your not donating your self and you are eligible then you are obviously to much of a wuss.

Other work places even some in the private sector offer workers time to go and give blood. You should ask yours.

Yes, if somebody in a previous post indicates that they will be donating soon, and in the post you have quoted adds a ‘;-)’, I would think it is pretty safe to assume they are being facetious.

>There you go, I’m paying for someone else to donate. My duty is done 😉

Nope your not if your not donating your self and you are eligible then you are obviously to much of a wuss.

Other work places even some in the private sector offer workers time to go and give blood. You should ask yours.

>> It’s also a good way to cure needle phobia.

I got the tatt a few years back, still have the needle phobia though.

blueberry said :

Also if you are in the public service some departments will allow you to donate blood on work time so you are still getting paid.

There you go, I’m paying for someone else to donate. My duty is done 😉

I have been giving since I was old enough to.
If you can get together a group of people at your work place you can contact the blood bank and they have a little Tarago that they can organise to come and pick you up and drop you of.

My opinion is that if you want to hold a drivers licence then you should be giving blood if you can. It is not hard, barely any inconvenience and it is such an easy free way to help so many people. Plus all of the nurses are so nice and friendly that I actually look forward to going when the bus comes to my work.

Also if you are in the public service some departments will allow you to donate blood on work time so you are still getting paid.

My fiancee and I will be heading in soon to part with some of the red stuff before we go and get our Tatts done (don’t worry, we aren’t getting some stupid name with a heart thing).

You can donate if you have a tatt, just wait twelve months.
It’s also a good way to cure needle phobia.
Donation levels often drop in winter as the regular donors catch the usual colds & flu. But we still need donations. I just discovered that 34% of red blood cells are used to treat cancer and other blood diseases.
I’ll be donating again when I stop breastfeeding. Even if your blood type is common, it’s still valuable stuff.

If you’re a public servant, it’s easy to book in with a group of workmates. Just pick a day that’s not that busy and you can have a gossip while you do something tangibly good for society instead of the usual motivation-sapping paper-pushing.

Here’s the mobile blood bus schedule.

> Tatts and mad cows rule me out I’m afraid…

You can’t donate if you have a tatt? That’s me out too then.

My wife is a regular donor, I’ve never done it. Mostly it’s thanks to a very strong needle phobia.

Why don’t I donate? Well…technically I do donate, but I am the only one who can use the blood I donated. I have an immune deficiency, which means my blood would do you no good and your blood could kill me.

Thought i’d help you out ant and the other readers:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/20560/barber_american_association_of_blood_banks/

pretty funny!

Brilliant “give blood” ad in the US. Black and white, old fashioned barber shop with some italian tenor warbling away in teh background as the barber carefully applies the cut-throat razor to the man’s throat. Suddenly you see the man’s eyes widen in horror… behind the barber, he can see a bunch of tough-looking nurses about to smash some cymbals together! The words then come up “We’re tired of asking nicely. Give Blood”.

Despite what you think, The US does not pay for blood. Whole blood donations are handled on a similar basis to Australia. Some companies purchase blood plasma for research purposes (the company is called plasmacare.com.)

I don’t know what sort of blood I have and it’s probably common and plentiful. Besides my veins hide and no one can find them and I ate LOTS of beef in the UK in the 80s.

tylersmayhem said :

JB, I never knew about this Red Cross trying to flog blood for profit…do tell! That also is a shocker.

I linked to one of the articles, around the same time they also got in trouble for selling blood to the pharmaceutical industry for research purposes IIRC.

I have bad blood. Does that make organs crook?

I can’t donate for health reasons.

But what I’m wondering is – why aren’t new parents routinely asked if they want to donate their newborn’s umbilical cord?

The govt is working with the Red Cross in partnership these days, so I doubt there’s any blood sales going on.

It is in all our interests to donate blood. Australia had one of the best blood safety records in the world for years and years, as we only used locally donated blood. For this reason we had far fewer aids cases through donated blood than countries like the US, who pay for blood (a lot of junkies used to sell their blood). Nowadays the US buys blood from other countries like India.

Australia is now looking to buy blood from overseas also, if donations continue to drop.

As a strapping young lad, after donating blood for the first time I passed out afterwards and crashed unconscious onto the table sending cups of tea flying.

I’ve consequently been banned from donating!

Haven’t been healthy enough over the last few years to meet the criteria, they don’t want to bottle my fine red vintage at the moment. Will be back when I can to swap my blood for a milkshake… lime please !

I think Peterh and New Yeah are shockers! I take it you are fishing for an argument. You might just change your tune and fish for some sympathy…and blood, should you or a member of your family need it. Then those bicuits might look pretty good. I must have been in denial to think that some of you would actually expect money for giving the gift of life to people?!

JB, I never knew about this Red Cross trying to flog blood for profit…do tell! That also is a shocker.

I used to donate heaps, but unfortunately was in the UK at the wrong time and had to get a shot made with blood products (AntiD). Probably now have mad cow disease! So, they don’t want my O neg anymore.

They also ask lots of questions on the form, about eg tattoos, piercings, sex workers (are you one or have you visited one), recent unprotected sex, etc. I figure lots of younger people are unable to give blood these days.

I am a blood donor but don’t donate as much as I should. One reason is the amount of time it takes. Even when I am booked in, it can take an hour and a half – sometimes even two if it is busy – and it often is.

They do a really good job but perhaps if they streamlined things a bit more to allow people to get in and out more quickly they would get people to come a bit more often.

I would be more than happy to donate if they come to Civic in one of their vans, but I don’t seem to hear about it if they do. Does anyone know ?

I am guessing apathy, inertia, lack of awareness and … is there a word for fear of needles? … But you do make a very good point.

: )

The fact that I just about passed out last time I had a blood test pretty much rules me out.

If only the Red Cross hadn’t been caught trying to flog donated blood for profit.

Frankly I’d prefer this activity was within the government health sector rather than run by a multinational NGO with an imperfect track record in times of moral crisis.

You can get a biscuit AND a milk shake if you donate at the Woden Red Cross. Plus there is a program running whereby if you donate more than three times a year you can get some kind of trinket or bauble – last year I scored a diary.

As for Canberrans not donating, they seem to get a decent flow of people happening whenever the Blood Bus is in Parkes.

what has tylersmayhem been gagging on?

blood donors? pay me to donate and i will give more. Biscuit doesn’t really cut it.

Local angle: Canberra apparently has the highest rate of donors per capita in the country.

Completely anecdotal, but that’s what the phlebotomists at the blood bank say.