Friday, September 14, 2007
The following is basically a rant.
I had a call earlier in the week for my blood. I'm O+, which means I am a universal donor, so my blood is always in demand. I agreed to go, and in the end managed to swap times with Erika, who ended up working again on the second unit for The Incredible Hulk.
This time it was being held at St. Aiden's church at the other end of the Beach from where I live. A minor inconvenience, from its former location at the local rec centre, which was closer. I took the girls with me and made a point of stopping by the local magazine store so they could have something to read/play with while they were waiting. Am glad I did since the whole process from beginning to end lasted a good hour and a half, much of which was waiting around for the next step in the bureaucratic process donating blood has seemingly become.
Much of this seemed to stem from the increasing bureaucracy included every time somebody donates. There's the forms to fill out and the obligatory visit with a nurse to answer the more sensitive questions.
Yes folks, after all of this time I have still never had cocaine or done any other injectable drugs, had sex with someone whose history I didn't know, or with a member of my own sex. My own feeling after the usual interview was that while this information may exclude me from the sort of parties that might in some way be press-worthy, there's little need to have a nurse there to specifically ask these questions; as a responsible adult I think I can be trusted to be truthful about such things. (And for the record the only thing I did trip up on in that section was having sex with a woman from Africa (which was not how the question is phrased in the questionnaire, but how the nurse asked it), though apparently Sierra Leone is not on the list of "bad" countries, and in any event that was back in the mid-80s, a *long* time ago).
I am all for donors being well informed as to what their blood will be tested for and knowing what the risk factors are (a new one for me was "having worked or working with monkeys" -- again, no problems there for, though if "working with lab rats" ever comes up, which I did in my Psychology courses in University, I'm toast).
It was a full hour after my arrival (with an appointment) before I got into the line for those who were ready to actually donate. A woman actually fainted at the drinks 'n' cookies table, which freaked out Annie and Vanessa a bit, though thankfully I was nearby to reassure them when it happened. (That was a first for me too).
My time actually donating blood took about 20 minutes or so, with another 5-10 spent at the drinks 'n' cookie table.
Turns out the last time I had donated according to my donation card was in January 2005. Given the lengthiness of the whole procedure, and that fully two-thirds of my time was spent waiting around after filling out forms, definitely fall under the category of being a less-enthusiastic donor.
Admittedly this was during peak times, right after the end of a working day, but the weather was rainy (something sure to drive the more casual donator away) and there were certainly stretches I saw where there were empty cots while the staff was trying to keep pace with everything else they had to do. This is a process in need of improvement.
Labels: donating blood
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
