Donating Blood
Something I really pride myself on is the fact I donate Blood. Today the staff at the Red Cross were happy to let me photograph my donation so I could share it with you.
It’s not every day you can donate blood, not everyone has the ability and not everyone ticks the correct boxes to pass the tests. I can say I’m able to donate and have done so for a while now.
My blood type is B Negative (B-) which takes up approximately 2% of Australian Blood types. Being that it’s such a rare type, I think it’s imperative that I do what I can to help people in my blood type as we’re such a small group; Albeit not the smallest we only take up a VERY small portion of the blood types when compared to the other groups. Who knows some day I may find myself in need of blood. Whilst some people have a fear of needles, I’m quite the opposite; I’m fascinated by them. Not sure what has driven me to become fascinated by the little blighters but something about them intrigues me so thoroughly. I have asked multiple times if I can learn to but the catheter in myself but they’ve declined every time… One day I say, one day.
I was asked by the staff to not photograph them and some certain elements of the donation however they were happy to let me photograph what I’m presenting to you here.
The process begins pretty easily! You get to sit outside the donor van and enjoy a cup of cordial and a chat with the assistant who is outside. Today has been windy and wet so I think it scared people off coming down.
The first step! Answer some simple questions! I’ve been a good boy so I’m allowed to proceed after this point!
Once you’re done with the questions, they take you into the donor van and ask you some more serious questions, check your blood pressure, spike your finger and test your blood quickly. Next is to walk down onto the nice little bed, lay down and let them work their magic. You are asked to squeeze a stress ball to lift your veins/arteries to make it easier to tap into your stream of blood. Guess work isn’t something you want with a large gauge needle.
Once the veins have lifted they prep the catheter and let you know you’re about to feel a bit of a sting
The next part is the “bee sting” which is the catheter piercing your skin and entering your vein or capillary; I’m not sure which they tap into. The feeling isn’t a bad one at all, a lot of people claim it to be quite painful though I find it a simple and quite painless process.
As the needle slips in, a drop of blood surfaces from time to time
The first bag to fill is the tiny one you see here, they take 3 vials from it and place them in the kidney shaped little container you see down by my legs.
After the process is done, the self retracting catheter is taken out.
The collected blood – 600mL of DNA rich MattL juice is presented and bar-coded. My number today is #8555822; A very personalised experience hehe.
After applying pressure to the spot the catheter is removed from, you are taped and bandaged to stop you from leaking.
Now for the best part… THE TREATS!
I hope this has given you some insight into Blood donning. I cant suggest enough that you all give blood where possible! If you want to become a blood donor, please read more here. Please consider, because the life you save tomorrow could be that of a friend or family member.
I hope you’re still conscious by the time you get to this text!!
