I'm considering being a blood donor

  • Thread starter Thread starter YehoiakhinEx232
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Everyone is typed…we don’t care what the patient says. When we can’t get a second sample they are given Os. I’ll give Rh typed if they are historical in the old system.
The one and only exception is pre surgical draws. Our medical director approved type specific for them…without a second type. That was from a lot of backlash from the OR.

I work at a pretty big level 1 trauma center with a children’s hospital attached.
 
Recently we had a vet…from Korea or early Vietnam need a transfusion. He noticed the nurse was giving him Rh positive blood and refused the transfusion because he was told…as a vet…to remember he was O Neg and that was the type he needed.
The nurse couldn’t convince him that we had electronically typed him as an O Pos and one of the techs had to go downstairs and explain to him that the reagents used when he was typed, many years ago, weren’t strong enough to exhibit a reaction and he probably was typed as negative.
 
If I recall, AABB requires a new type and screen if it’s been more than 2 weeks? I haven’t worked BB in quite a few years except to release emergency ONegs so the rules may have changed. I do remember many arguments with OR doctors wanting type specific and no recent T&S on record to the point that our BB director got involved and layed down the law. If you need it now and nothing recent, you get Oneg. Period.

Wow, quite a few MT’s here. 👍
 
I just kid around about my blood type because of the double meaning, but I found your post and the subsequent ones very interesting because of the progress that has been made.

I still hope they will lift the ban on overseas residents so I can donate again. I found it to be a great thing to do, especially as I was almost in need of a transfusion s couple of times. It’s such a little thing to do, and yet you can potentially save a life!

@KCmedtech @Peeps @PattyIt
 
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I’ve been a donor for more than 50 years, and find it very rewarding…it’s not really a stretch to think of it as stewardship.
 
I use to give blood often but my own iron has been running low So I only donate a couple times a year now. I would say DO IT. They will ask the questions etc and type the blood. Some one needs that blood
 
We do every three days a new one is needed to keep current…otherwise the doctor needs to approve emergency release units that are o pos for guys and negs for girls.

The OR are special snowflakes and our MD cleared them for type specific on one draw that is good for a month before surgery. Once surgery happens…the sample is changed to three days.

The argument was because this sample is the only one drawn at a specific appointment and the chance for error is “low”. I’m not a fan and neither are the other techs. We request second types on these patients but only get a few. It’s so different from the small community hospital I used to work in.

The OR is, by far, our biggest customer and they tend to get what they want.
 
From what I’ve heard from the medical director from the donor center we get our blood supply from…overseas bans on donation aren’t going away anytime soon.

She wants to make it temporary…because it would open the door for so many more donors.

She was able to get the tattoo ban lifted for specific states.
 
I see three things:
  • If you have risks to have bloods or sexual deaseases that can be transmitted (don’t count only on the blood tests done for the gift, see your life’s risk).
  • Blood donors can signs paper agreement for the usage of their blood for reschearch. Ask more before any signature, and ask if there is an implicit consent.
  • If you are paid or not. Thevolunteer alternative is the better, because giving human fluids should not be a business.
 
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Donating blood should be volunteer because it encourages a cleaner blood supply.

The US blood supply is completely volunteer…which is amazing considering how many units a major trauma center can burn through every day.

It’s kinda of interesting because units are blood are so expensive…given the amount of paid personnel that touch them. The more rare the blood the more expensive they are.
 
Yep, still banned because of the Creutzfeld-Jacob problem, various parts of Europe for varying lengths of time from the early 1980s on to now.

I can totally understand it, I’m just sorry they can’t develop a test which would allow the ban to be lifted.
 
YehoiakhinEx232 said:
I’m thinking about being a blood donor, is there anything I should consider, especially in regards to the current climate in the realm of medicine, that I should think about before looking into this further?
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What’s the current climate in medicine?

Go ahead and donate. I’ve done it lots of times. 😎
 
Aulef said:
Donate and pray that the blood will go to a Cathlic or a sinner ready to repent and confess.
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What difference does it make if they’re Catholic, Jew, Protestant, or Muslim? It could be a lifesaving act. And so what if they’re not a sinner who’s ready to repent and confess?

WE do not choose who is saved and who isn’t (physically or spiritually)
 
I know…you’d think someone would come up with a test for it. We test for so many other viruses and even parasites like Babesia.

It would open the door to so many new donors if we could scan for CJD.

I have a very close friend who works at the blood donor center my hospital contracts for blood products. She does all the testing for the units that come in.

She can’t donate because she was born in the UK in the late 80s.
 
Yes, become a blood donor.

You are greatly needed, less than 10% of the population donates 100% of the blood supply.

This is a perfect example of the Gospel teaching of giving to those who cannot repay you.

I have given for decades, and love doing so.

Deacon Christopher
 
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