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Blood Bank Myths
14 years ago
Hey, I am a typical curious person. My mom took back her "there are no stupid questions" ideology years ago, as a result of my curiousity about all kinds of things. So, now YOU just have to suffer for it!! :evillaugh:
Ahem, the curiousity about this subject was started by my teacher. I'm a proud blood donor and always try to recruit more people to donate blood to the blood bank. Since I changed school building this year, I asked my teacher if I could put up some posters about blood donation to try catch people who were interested.
Her first reaction was to refuse. Because she somehow imagined such posters would be gorery and bloody with needles and all the kinds of things people find unpleasent about such a subject. I was really surprised. That's not what blood donation is about and definitely not how the blood banks would try to advertise themselves to get more donors. And we are talking about a teacher here, who has been working as such longer than I have lived. She did allow me to do it in the end and had to admit the poster in question was NOT an unpleasant sight at all.
But it made me curious. I have yet to find someone willing to donate blood as I do among the people I meet IRL. Everyone seems to find it too unpleasant to consider. I can't help but wonder what people actually think about it and what parts they might imagine on their own. I wonder about the myths.
So.. you people wanna share that with me? If you feel an unpleasant chill at the mention of Blood Banks and donation, tell me what your first thoughts are about it. What is it you imagine about these things, what makes you comfortable about it? Help me understand and I'll try see if I can clear some things up like with my teacher.
Thanks!
Blood Bank Chills:
I'm afraid of needles.
What I mostly hear as reason why people don't like the thought of donating blood. Yes, needles are scary, but not worse than getting a shot or tattoo. Okay, the needle is a bit bigger than an injection needle because they want blood to flow through it. But it only hurts at the first prick and the people handling the needles are all trained nurses. They are trained to keep you calm and comfortable through the process. You maximum get pricked twice at a donation. One smaller needle for a quick blood sample if you got a history of low percent (like me) to make sure you are fit to donate. And then the drain needle if you are accepted.
I might faint, I need to lie down.
Fact: You DO lie down through the whole process. You'll be asked to lay down and get comfy and most importantly to stay put. You are also told to stay down for at least 10-15 minutes for your body to recover, before getting up and going. And still, professional nurses will be watching over you through it all.
The thought of having my blood removed makes me nervous.
But it is not dangerous. They only take maximum half a liter of your blood and only from the most healthy people. They test your blood percent as mentioned above to make sure your body can handle the drain without getting sick. If it is too low, you are sent back home with advices on what you can do to get it better. They also offer free treats of all kinds through the donation to keep your body balanced as they drain that half liter. So it's nothing dangerous or they wouldn't do it.
Ahem, the curiousity about this subject was started by my teacher. I'm a proud blood donor and always try to recruit more people to donate blood to the blood bank. Since I changed school building this year, I asked my teacher if I could put up some posters about blood donation to try catch people who were interested.
Her first reaction was to refuse. Because she somehow imagined such posters would be gorery and bloody with needles and all the kinds of things people find unpleasent about such a subject. I was really surprised. That's not what blood donation is about and definitely not how the blood banks would try to advertise themselves to get more donors. And we are talking about a teacher here, who has been working as such longer than I have lived. She did allow me to do it in the end and had to admit the poster in question was NOT an unpleasant sight at all.
But it made me curious. I have yet to find someone willing to donate blood as I do among the people I meet IRL. Everyone seems to find it too unpleasant to consider. I can't help but wonder what people actually think about it and what parts they might imagine on their own. I wonder about the myths.
So.. you people wanna share that with me? If you feel an unpleasant chill at the mention of Blood Banks and donation, tell me what your first thoughts are about it. What is it you imagine about these things, what makes you comfortable about it? Help me understand and I'll try see if I can clear some things up like with my teacher.
Thanks!
Blood Bank Chills:
I'm afraid of needles.
What I mostly hear as reason why people don't like the thought of donating blood. Yes, needles are scary, but not worse than getting a shot or tattoo. Okay, the needle is a bit bigger than an injection needle because they want blood to flow through it. But it only hurts at the first prick and the people handling the needles are all trained nurses. They are trained to keep you calm and comfortable through the process. You maximum get pricked twice at a donation. One smaller needle for a quick blood sample if you got a history of low percent (like me) to make sure you are fit to donate. And then the drain needle if you are accepted.
I might faint, I need to lie down.
Fact: You DO lie down through the whole process. You'll be asked to lay down and get comfy and most importantly to stay put. You are also told to stay down for at least 10-15 minutes for your body to recover, before getting up and going. And still, professional nurses will be watching over you through it all.
The thought of having my blood removed makes me nervous.
But it is not dangerous. They only take maximum half a liter of your blood and only from the most healthy people. They test your blood percent as mentioned above to make sure your body can handle the drain without getting sick. If it is too low, you are sent back home with advices on what you can do to get it better. They also offer free treats of all kinds through the donation to keep your body balanced as they drain that half liter. So it's nothing dangerous or they wouldn't do it.
But the main reason I don't donate blood is convenience. The only times I have donated blood is when the blood busses came to my high school. I think they have similar blood drives here at MSU, and I will be taking part in those, though!
Denmark is small, so we got plenty of Blood Banks placed conveniently, but they also offer free transportation
Can't say I know of this Cryoshell though P:
What that doesn't tell you, is if you have veins that are hidden or harder to spot, they end up having to blind-guess it a bit.
The closest I have to a 'chiller' story is the nurses at the blood bank have asked me to start shaving my arm before I come in. What can I say, I'm a hairy bugger.
but then i waited a year or so and i went in to donate blood again and they let me so no worries ^^
Good you got to donate anyway after a wait ^^
and he thing was i didnt have 'sex' with this guy.... i was still a virgin... (he was my first later... after i attempted blood donation..) and the only 'sex' i had -ever- had in my whole life was just the 1 blowjob.... and the woman still considered this unsafe!!