Being a blood donor - any improvements?

[stewamax]

I have also done 50+ donations in both England and in Scotland (I hoped to be offered a dram there afterwards but no luck).
I always book online and have never needed to fill in any paperwork.
I have never been offered or given any topical anaesthetic - just the antiseptic scrub for 2 minutes or whatever.
Having seen macho men (always men) refuse the tea and biscuits afterwards, march for the door and end up on the floor looking pale and embarrassed, I have always rested and taken a couple of cups of tea and a Penguin or similar biscuit afterwards.
There is, I believe, a bar on new over-70s donors but existing ones can carry on indefinitely.
The only ill-effects have been feeling a bit washed out next day and sometimes minor bruising where the cannula has been inserted.
No pain worth mentioning and I have been quite happy to watch tube and bag fill with my common-as-muck A+ blood.

The only 'incident' I remember was donating in one of the mobile 'blood-wagons'. When having my cuppa afterwards I commented on the disgusting state of the floor which was covered in blood. I then realised it was mine - pumping out from my arm. No pain but shirt ruined.

[ReformedCharacter]

I have also done 50+ donations in both England and in Scotland (I hoped to be offered a dram there afterwards but no luck).
I always book online and have never needed to fill in any paperwork.
I have never been offered or given any topical anaesthetic - just the antiseptic scrub for 2 minutes or whatever.
Having seen macho men (always men) refuse the tea and biscuits afterwards, march for the door and end up on the floor looking pale and embarrassed, I have always rested and taken a couple of cups of tea and a Penguin or similar biscuit afterwards.
There is, I believe, a bar on new over-70s donors but existing ones can carry on indefinitely.
The only ill-effects have been feeling a bit washed out next day and sometimes minor bruising where the cannula has been inserted.
No pain worth mentioning and I have been quite happy to watch tube and bag fill with my common-as-muck A+ blood.

The only 'incident' I remember was donating in one of the mobile 'blood-wagons'. When having my cuppa afterwards I commented on the disgusting state of the floor which was covered in blood. I then realised it was mine - pumping out from my arm. No pain but shirt ruined.

My father was one of the first people to donate 50 times and when he first gave blood the patient who needed the blood would be in the next bed and the blood transfused immediately. He said that donors were informed about the recipient's outcome.

RC

[vrdiver]

If you register at blood.co.uk you can track your donations (they will add on any previous donations if you give them the details, should they have occurred before the system was computerised), book and amend appointments for future donations and opt to get a message when and where your donation has been issued to.

VRD

[pochisoldi]

If you register at blood.co.uk you can track your donations (they will add on any previous donations if you give them the details, should they have occurred before the system was computerised), book and amend appointments for future donations and opt to get a message when and where your donation has been issued to.

VRD

If you register your mobile number, they send you a text telling you which hospital your donation was used at.

Since January, I've racked up Hull Royal, Southampton General and Derriford in Plymouth.

PochiSoldi

[UncleEbenezer]

If you register your mobile number, they send you a text telling you which hospital your donation was used at.

Since January, I've racked up Hull Royal, Southampton General and Derriford in Plymouth.

PochiSoldi

That would seem to suggest an awful lot of blood-miles! Any idea why? Does your blood have special properties that would make it superior to a local donor in any of those places?

[pochisoldi]

If you register your mobile number, they send you a text telling you which hospital your donation was used at.

Since January, I've racked up Hull Royal, Southampton General and Derriford in Plymouth.

PochiSoldi

That would seem to suggest an awful lot of blood-miles! Any idea why? Does your blood have special properties that would make it superior to a local donor in any of those places?

All donated at the same Midlands venue.

O pos (good for any ABO recipient who isn't Rh neg), and also CMV negative. (Do a search for cytomeglovirus...)

PochiSoldi

[UncleEbenezer]

That would seem to suggest an awful lot of blood-miles! Any idea why? Does your blood have special properties that would make it superior to a local donor in any of those places?

O pos (good for any ABO recipient who isn't Rh neg), and also CMV negative. (Do a search for cytomeglovirus...)

PochiSoldi

Fairy nuff. But that surely applies to large numbers of donors in each of Hull, Southampton and Plymouth, whose blood wouldn't have to be shipped around the country to use in their respective hospitals!

[vrdiver]

That would seem to suggest an awful lot of blood-miles! Any idea why? Does your blood have special properties that would make it superior to a local donor in any of those places?

looking at the blood web site, it seems the old days of taking the stuff out of one arm and putting it straight into another have moved on somewhat!

The stuff gets processed(1) and the components have variable shelf lives, with major storage facilities(2) holding stocks and issuing to hospitals as required. Google doesn't seem to think there are many blood banks in the South(2) so that may also explain the blood miles...

I'd assumed that with the short shelf-life components, the supply is variable at a regional level and needs to be rebalanced, whereas perhaps the longer life components are OK to stockpile (but once you've got trucks moving inventory, you might as well balance them as well, assuming the short-life stuff is less-than-load quantities...). It would be interesting to find out if any donors based in the North West had a similar experience of their blood being reported as used in multiple regions.

The question that springs to mind for me, is if my blood can be issued to up to three patients which one triggers the SMS, and what happens when the other two fractions get issued?

VRD

(1) https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-pr ... -donation/
(2) https://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1 ... 808!4f13.1

[Devjon]

I have regular blood tests and mentally mark the Phlebotomists on a score of 1-10.
A few have been a tad clumsy, but these were younger, less experienced. The best was a male nurse who took just over 15 seconds for insert, draw 3 vials and cotton wool swab with sticky tape.

Many thanks to all you donors, you are heroes. I have a rare blood condition which will probably require transfusions at some point in the future. I am a member of a support group and several other members of the group are dependent on regular transfusions to keep them alive. At some of the meetings we have a guest speaker, one gave a talk on Blood, a complex and fascinating topic. ( typical blood cell production 10 Billion White Cells, 200 Billion Red, 400 Billion platelets, all in a typical day !)

[Loup321]

I am a regular donor (50+). Anaesthetics used to be offered to first-time donors, and then if you accepted one previously they offered it to you at your next donation. Now, they won't give you one. That changed about 10 years ago, I think.

They need more information if you have had a blood transfusion.

Can I give blood if I have had a transfusion, or received blood products or an organ transplant?

We may need more information about your transfusion. Please follow our advice about giving blood after a transfusion. If you have received tissue or an organ, it may be possible to donate blood. Please see our advice about giving blood after a transplant.

Blood Transfusion : Transfusion

If you have had or think you have had a blood transfusion (or blood products) anytime since 1st January 1980 sadly, we can no longer accept your blood.

This rule has been introduced as a purely precautionary measure. It aims to reduce the possible risk of variant CJD (vCJD) being passed from donor to patient. However, just like our other rules regarding who can and who can't give, things can change. As new scientific information comes to light we will review the situation. This could mean either continuing this ruling or asking people to come back. We just don't know yet.

So check the dates, and find out more details about why you had the transfusion. There are other things, like if you have had cancer then you can never give blood, so if the transfusion was for lukemia that would rule you out (but it would have done all those years ago as well, I think).

Visit the NHS Blood and Transplant website (https://www.blood.co.uk/) where there is a list of reasons why you might not be able to give. You can phone them on 0300 123 23 23 and ask if something is not clear to you.

Thanks for considering giving blood - it really will save a life if you can.

[mutantpoodle]

I didn't know about the form-filling. That's enough to put me off. I can't remember that in the Hancock sketch.

It was done orally. From memory:

Doctor: "Are you British"

Hancock: Oh yes, nothing to worry about there, pure Anglo-Saxon with just a dash of Viking"

wouldn't be allowed to say that these days RACIST would be painted all over you...and everyone you associated with probably

[Skotch]

I'm well over 50 donations and have never to date had any problems with the method - no anaesthetic, just an anti-bacterial wipe, nice sit down watching the tv or playing sudoku on my phone. Nice tea and biccies afterwards. I now get a text a few days later telling me where my donation has ended up. Long live the volunteers!

[panamagold]

I now get a text a few days later telling me where my donation has ended up. Long live the volunteers!

And long live those to be fortunate enough to be in receipt of all the volunteers donations.