Just got off the phone with the Red Cross. All potential donors are encouraged to donate blood over the next several days. Red Cross phone numbers can be located in the phone book under American Red Cross; your local office can let you know where drives are being held. Other community blood collection services can be located by calling your local hospital for information. All types of blood are needed; blood may be donated every 8 weeks. I'll be rolling up my sleeve on the 17th; the first day I am elegible to donate again - at least I can feel like I'm doing something. I encourage all others to do the same.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Answers

On one of my email lists, someone posted that you're best off making an appointment to donate, as the wait for walk-ins is 60-90 minutes.

Probably best, in any event, to contact your local donor authority before you just jump and go.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Right on. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2001

Also remember that they are going to continue to need donations in the weeks to come in order to replenish the blood supplies that they have called in from all over the country, possibly a month or more into the future. You might want to discuss this with your blood donor site if it would be better to donate in a week's time or so and help them manage the supply better.

They especially want O+ and O- right away. Universal donors.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

A unit of packed red cells has a shelf life of 42 days. Platelets (to stop bleeding) are only good for a week. There is a process called apheresis where they can remove some platelets and plasma from your blood and put the red cells back in, that way you can donate every week. It takes about an hour to donate platelets, and you'll have to have a needle in both arms (one to take the whole blood out and the other to put the red cells back in). I only have good veins in one arm so I can't donate. Once things have calmed down a bit you may want to call your local blood center and see if they need platelet donors.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

Here they told people to wait at least until Thursday. Apparently they got so many folks they couldn't deal with it. I am thinking about next week.

BUT: I quit donating years ago because of so many bad experiences. Enormous bruises, nurses beating on my arms to find a "good" vein, but worst of all, about half the time, the vein would collapse, or the blood would come out too slow and coagulate (this is what they told me).

When I have to have blood drawn for blood work, I insist that they use a pediatric set because I don't have "bad" blood vessels, I have small blood vessels. It works fine when they use a pediatric set (and I am happy when I get a blood drawer who doesn't ARGUE with me about it, like I don't know my own body). Sidebar mini rant: Why do some of them get so pissed at ME when they collapse a vein. Do they think I'm sitting there WILLING it to collapse? Some are really nice -- either doing it with no problem or at least apologizing if they collapse a vein, but I get really ticked with the others! Okay, end of rant.

So, does anyone have anything to suggest to me, beyond insisting on a pediatric set? I will have to call them and see if they can even provide such a thing for blood donation, and I am wondering if I should ask for anything else?

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

Sorry Joy, you're not going to be able to get a peds set to donate blood. They are required to use a specific size needle to draw blood for blood donations so the red cells aren't damaged. The phlebotomists at the blood center where I worked used to refer to drawing donors as "shoving steel". There also are regulations for how long the donation can take, if you're a "slow draw" they have to discard the unit.

Most phlebotomists only have a HS diploma or GED. They get a little bit of on-the-job training, the shifts are horrible and the pay is worse. If they have over a certain number of bad sticks or slow draws during the month they're written up or fired. That could be why you've had such problems with them. To be blunt, you'd probably be much more help if you volunteered to pass out juice and cookies than if you tried to donate. :)

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

Sorry, I didn't mean for that last line to sound so harsh. What I was trying to say is that you shouldn't feel bad if you can't donate blood, there are other ways you can help instead. :)

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

Thank you Sherri. I wasn't taking it wrong, but thanks too, for explaining your "harsh" words. No one has ever explained how this works to me before. Now I wonder if ANY blood I ever gave was used. :-( Julie, you pay attention too -- you have small blood vessels too!

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

Ah Man Joy, I know what you mean, taking my blood for anything has always been a major ordeal! Once three different nurses had to be called in to get me done! I tried to be brave, but it was stressful! They would poke and poke around , finally declareing that I had slippery veins, like an old women, they would say. One time when I needed blood work done, they ended up taking it out of the back of my hand, as those veins stick up and are big and easy for them to get. I guess the ones in my arm hide and move around! Oh my and to think that I would have to go through all that, and they would throw it away!

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001