Patch's Poll: Does The Idea Of Donating Blood Make You Squeamish?

Robert Welt July 17, 2012 at 08:49 pm

Obviously giving blood will hurt a little bit (the worst part is pulling the bandage off my arm before going to bed!), but that is more than made up for by knowing that I may have saved someone's life.
Robert Welt

Kristin July 17, 2012 at 10:11 pm

For those of you who do feel squeamish about donating blood, maybe taking a minute to think about how the future recipient will likely feel when they are in that position of needing blood. They will probably either be critically injured or sick, much worse than having a little nausea from the thought of donating blood.
I sincerely wish I could give blood, but sadly I can't due to a medical condition I have. Maybe someone reading this here can donate in my honor ;o)

John Martin July 17, 2012 at 10:23 pm

The life you save could be someone you love. It is almost certainly the life of someone who is loved.
It takes only a little bit of time, the staff is outstanding, and you get cookies and juice.

David Moorehead July 18, 2012 at 03:07 am

I have given blood many times and am happy to do it. The Red Cross in CT, however, is the poorest I know when it comes to blood collectioon. They do not have user friendly hours that make it easy for working people because they have no late afternoon or evening hours during most drives and appear to be in a big hurry to get out at 3PM. They also want an appointment, not walk ins. Giving blood in NJ and NC was easy, but in CT the Red Cross makes it difficult. I had to walk out the last time because of the wait when I didn't have an appointment. I went with my wife, who had an appointment and she was done with no sign that they were near calling me to give, and they weren't very nice about it!

Tim Shanahan July 18, 2012 at 03:50 am

I have donated over 9 gallons of blood so far. In fact, I just donatd a pint yesterday.

Jayne Keedle July 18, 2012 at 03:53 am

I would love to give blood but until there's a test for mad cow disease available pre-mortem, I can't donate here. (Strange, but true!)

Spencer July 18, 2012 at 01:34 pm

When iw as in HS--I gladly donated blod as soon as I was able to...and I continued to do so into my early 40's! However I unfortunately dveloped a hypertension problem, and I was told that I was unfortunately no longer able to give blood. Have that not happened...I would have gladly donated blood until they drained me dry!!

MamaBird July 18, 2012 at 11:41 pm

I have gone to Waterford Town Hall every 8 wks for a few years now. Last time (7/13) the wait was so long I had to leave. I was there over an hour and had not even made it to 10th in line for intake (BP, temp, etc.) Too bad. Red Cross keeps issuing pleas for blood but can't handle the response! Walk-in were being turned away at the door.

Gloria July 19, 2012 at 01:10 am

I agree with you, David, and Mambird who also replied. The staff, I hate to say, REALLY is not nice. They act like they are doing YOU a favor by 'agreeing' to take a person's blood. And I also agree with the difficulty of a "walk in" -- my son just gave in Old Lyme a week or so ago, and he was a walk in. He was there SERIOUSLY like three hours, between waiting, filling out the questions, and you know how long it took him to actually GIVE the blood? SIX MINUTES. He's a young man, and FAST. Even the nurses were surprised how quickly he was done, and commented. So God bless him for taking three hours for something that took him six minutes. He wasn't even mad or anything that he had to wait (ah, the patience of the young). Anyway, unfortunately, I also think the CT Red Cross really needs to change...

Gloria July 19, 2012 at 01:13 am

p.s. And yes, I have given blood many, many times. I would probably do it more often if it was easier with the waiting time and nicer staff, I am very sorry to say!

cooking mom July 20, 2012 at 01:51 pm

Maybe the CT Red Cross powers-that-be will read what was written here. It is too bad that people have to leave when they have taken their personal time to go and donate. I have donated in Indiana and Illinois in the past and always had good experiences. People were friendly, welcoming, and the experience was fast because there were enough red cross professionals working. I certainly don't have the time to sit for 3 hours waiting to donate when it will take me all of 5-10 minutes to pump out the blood. Let's get it together CT Red Cross. It isn't that hard to make this process more efficient.

Suzanne Cattanach July 20, 2012 at 03:13 pm

The "powers that be" probably are the problem. The CT Red Cross blood drive staff (phlebotomists, drivers, technicians, etc.) are all unionized. The management is pretty horrible, and when they are not in court or on strike, the workers are miserable b/c they are usually understaffed and under-supplied. Rushing can cause serious accidents so I think they have to slow down on purpose. (an accident can harm them too, not just the donor) This seems to be a Red Cross management problem, other states have troubles with management and labor too. They've got pretty much a monopoly on blood donation/collection. They need some competition or they'll never clean up their act.