I did something heroic today, and you can too.

[kalleah]

I gave a pint of blood. 

Yeah, I'm not that jazzed about needles.  I get a little woozy and I have to be careful to drink something cold and fizzy while I'm donating.  My dang finger hurts where they stuck me.  I do it anyway. 

We can't all pull children out of burning buildings or raging rivers or something appropriately "heroic," but it doesn't matter one bit.  It's the cumulative effect that makes a difference.

The proudest I think I've ever been as a human being was standing outside our local blood donation center after September 11 and seeing a line of people looped twice around the parking lot waiting to donate blood.  There was a local caterer who had pulled up, unannounced and uninvited, in front and was handling out snacks and drinks to everyone waiting in line.  In the end, the Red Cross had to turn people away because there were simply too many people and not enough time.  There were lines like this across the country.

There's a crisis every second.  Someone's in an automobile accident, or a child needs treatment for leukemia, or an organ is transplanted.  Surgeries are postponed because there's not enough blood in reserve in case something goes wrong.  This is real and we can all help, every eight weeks, by bearing with a needle stick and about an hour.

In the United States, only 5% of the eligible (eligible, not total) population gives blood on anything approaching a regular basis.  Don't wait for an emergency or a disaster.  Somebody needs you badly right now.

Find blood drive or a donation center, and make a difference.

If I sound like a commercial, I feel like one.  And you know what?  I'm okay with that.  I've got my next appointment scheduled eight weeks from today.

Comments

[measi.livejournal.com]

A-friggin-men


<---- platlet donor

It's so easy. Platlets take about 90 minutes to donate (red blood cells are put back) - and basically what I get to do is sit in a really comfy armchair and watch a movie on pay-per-view for free - all for saving a life. Every three weeks, as platlets are recovered much faster than red blood.

Not too shabby.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I've never donated platelets ... probably ought to do that, too. Got audiobooks, can hang out in chair for a while.

[measi.livejournal.com]

You'll have to wait the full eight weeks right now before you could start - once you donate red blood cells, you have to go by that timeframe. :(

But yeah, next time you go in, ask if your center does them... and have yourself tested to see if you *can* donate (not everyone who can do red blood can...)

[runriggers.livejournal.com]

Good for you - I give plasma every two months. As the commercial up here says: Blood, it's in you to give! Doesn't take much and it helps people as well.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Blood, it's in you to give!

Heh. I haven't heard that particular campaign, but I like it.

[sandstar08.livejournal.com]

I plan to once I pass the foreign travel limit. Just got past the age limit when they said that you couldn't donate if you'd been out of the country in the past five years. I went once to Canada when I was 12 and i can't donate blood. *shakes head* whatever. i plan to donate regularly though. is there anything i can do before then? or my sister? she's only 16, but turns 17 this summer

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize Canada counted. Some places are cleared -- we're going to Bermuda in the fall, and I checked beforehand to make sure we'd both still be eligible afterward. Theoretically, we're OK.

But yes, there's a ton to be done. Encourage others to give blood; volunteer at a donation center or a blood drive. Sitting at the canteen making sure donors eat a cookie and have a drink before leaving may not sound like a glamorous job, but it's still important.

[mr-liam-to-you.livejournal.com]

We can't all pull children out of burning buildings or raging rivers or something appropriately "heroic," but it doesn't matter one bit. It's the cumulative effect that makes a difference.

Exactly! *high-five*

People always ask me why I give blood as often as I do, and they don't seem to understand that my blood saves people, just like if I pulled three people out of a burning building.

[mr-liam-to-you.livejournal.com]

Wait, maybe not just like, because there's the whole lack of fire and danger and stuff, but you get the point. XD

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I also do it because it scared the hell out of me when I first gave. Every time I give, I'm doing something important, and getting a grip on my own fear.

[karenor.livejournal.com]

good for you! i turn into a commercial every so often myself. i'm not allowed to give blood anymore and this was one of the worst parts of the illness i had, that i can't help people anymore. it's a little thing, but it means so much. and i'm speaking as a former donor, but also as a recipient of donated blood.

i had blood drawn today, though. so it's kinda like i donated. except only to myself. ;)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

There are still so many ways to help. Talking out in your capacity as a blood recipient can encourage others to donate. Or volunteering your time at a drive.

[starlightmoonla.livejournal.com]

Although I despise needles I've wanted to donate whenever my campus has visits for the blood drive. The only thing holding me back is my weight, I'm barely under 110lbs (106-107lbs). This though will definitely give me a reason to gain a bit of healthy weight.

Good for you!!!

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Don't have that problem. ::coughs::

[larielromeniel.livejournal.com]

Good for you, Kalleah!

We're now hosting blood drives at our station on a regular basis. I wasn't able to donate last week because I caught something from my son, but I plan to next time.

And let me add to your plug, for anyone having a baby: consider donating the cord blood. It could also save someone's life.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

We host a drive every eight weeks on the dot, which makes me terribly proud. It's a never-ending effort to talk it up and persuade people to come out and take an hour of their day and some discomfort ... but it's worth it.

[denara.livejournal.com]

Good for you for actually being willing to put up with them in order to do a good deed! I had a very bad experience with the Red Cross after waiting over 8 hours to donate after 9/11, and they ended up somehow making my arm gush blood and having to try and stop the flow with a huge wad of paper towels. Wasn't pretty.

If I donate, I try to do it through a more local med center. Especially if there's a local shortage and I'll be able to know it's helping out people in my area and not being sold off somewhere else. =)

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

There are good and bad technicians. I find that the person drawing blood makes more of a difference than the organization involved. The lady who drew my blood on Thursday was so good, but the one before that had to keep shifting the needle around. ::ack::

Just so you know, Blood Services for the Red Cross is divided into regions, and the donated blood primarily stays local. If there's a critical need in other areas, or (heaven forbid) a surplus, then blood is shared with other areas.

[(Anonymous)]

Being on long-term medication, I'm no longer able to donate blood, which is a shame. However, it's also worth registering with an organ donation scheme, though I realise that legislation, and indeed attitudes, to this issue may vary from place to place.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

sorry, that was me.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

Your icon, in context, cracked me up. Perhaps we need one of the blood-tasting from The Christmas Invasion? Hee.

I'm also a card-carrying organ donor.

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

I'm banned for life from giving blood, at least in the US, because I lived in England for a long period during the 80s. You can't give blood if you spent more than 3 months there between 1980 and 1996.

I don't know if this also disqualifies me as an organ donor. I'd like to be one if it doesn't.

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this also disqualifies me as an organ donor

I don't know, but if I had to guess, it probably does.

Always been curious about how the UK handles their blood supply in the wake of mad cow.