O Type blood donors needed urgently - London - 10 June

its a good cause but I have a phobia for needles. My wife on the other hand has apparently a rare blood type and gets calls from the local blood bank to give quite often which she duly obliges. I have to have a blood test every year and I generally pass out, shit myself or both of the above. Funnily enough of course it doesn't hurt - its all psychological, however i did go with the Missus once and when they pulled out the needle for her to take blood from it looked more like a f***ing garden hose so again i promptly passed out on the floor. Couldn't do that. Hats of to those that do it regularly including my wife....
 
I stopped donating 18 months ago after suffering incompetent staff during platelet donations on two occasions, followed by an unnecessary referral to my GP by them (due to Hospital politics and an ovezealous foreign Sister in charge).

I asked to be put back on whole blood donation instead of platelets but haven't been back since despite getting emails from them as my blood is valuable to them for Neonatal use.

In light of this current crisis I might swallow my pride and resume regular donations.
 
Hospitals...no...no thank you! Scare the living daylights out of me. Zombie apocalypse just starts swirling around my head as soon as the word is mentioned.
 
Pukmeister said:
stopped donating 18 months ago after suffering incompetent staff during platelet donations
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yep, thats a big issue....and sympathize completely. When my wife goes they really do take care and make every effort to ensure all goes smoothly and as effortlessly as possible. Must say I'm impressed at how it all works over here. They make extraordinary efforts when putting the ''tap'' in.
Well here they have to...if they didn't they simple wouldn't get any takers, the Cloggies would tell them to bogg off... :ROFLMAO:
 
Wapping said:
“No matron! I said, prick his boil!
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reminds me of an old Jasper Carrot sketch about a dog attacking the postman..... something along the lines of.....

''Kick his balls....!!!''...........
No, the one's on the Lawn.......!!!!''

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
I have given whole blood and platelets for over 40 years.
Platelets: stopped when the NBTS sold the centre in Brentwood for housing, stating it was not needed. Cue many begging emails, asking me to go to Cambridge as they were running short.
Resumed at St George's Tooting when a friend of mine was admitted there with leukemia. The NBTS had managed to lose my records....
Now back giving whole blood, (when the sessions are not cancelled at the last minute).
I am now at 180 donations (platelets count as two or three).
It is a wonderful service, run by fools who do not appreciate the front-line staff. I loved going to Brentwood every month as the ladies who staffed the centre were brilliant and I still see some of them when I give whole blood.
 
I'm at 92 whole blood and while sometimes it's a pain in the **** (& arm), and twice they've managed to miss the vein, the need is clearly greater than my inconvenience (and I like the occsional bourbon biscuit)
 
ChasMill said:
It is a wonderful service, run by fools who do not appreciate the front-line staff.
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A bit sad really and i feel for you...

....don't want to get into the NHS debate but because NL has a very different system you can get appointments for docs, specialists etc almost next day....very little waiting lists except for things such as MRI or scans which simply is because of the limitations on these expensive and not so common bits of medical machinery.......but no longer than a couple of weeks.

We have a big blood centre in the Hague but most towns have one and they are manged separately as a not for profit company and the centres are manned also by independent specially trained staff....and like Toshak10 above says they feed you up, give you biscuits, sweets and coffee or tea whilst you are there and make sure you stay at least half an hour after giving to make sure you´re good to go...I guess that's why it is quite successful.
When I went with the Mrs, they have all the beds / chairs in the same room and the banter / chit chat whilst blood is being taken amongst those giving is quite fun....my wife tells me...I cant go in as I would just pass out....like I did the first and last time I went and saw it all happening..... :giggle:

I really admire those that do it! Such a worthy cause that costs so little yet does so much....
 
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Toshack10 said:
I'm at 92 whole blood and while sometimes it's a pain in the **** (& arm), and twice they've managed to miss the vein, the need is clearly greater than my inconvenience (and I like the occsional bourbon biscuit)
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When I started giving (1982) you could get a half can of Guinness with your bourbon biscuit....
 
ChasMill said:
It is a wonderful service, run by fools
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I’d agree with that sentiment. They asked me or rather begged me, to take part in trial to see if it was OK to donate blood more frequently than the waiting period demanded by the NHS.

Certainly, I said, guessing that it meant I’d just rock up to the usual donation centre in Mark Lane, EC3 and my records (this being the 21st century) would be marked to say I was part of a trial and maybe fill in a form or two each time to say that my arm hadn’t fallen off. No, sir. You have to go to Hendon. I pointed out that this was beyond the other side of London and asked whether there was anything central, say at one of the large hospitals? No, it was Hendon or nothing. So, nothing it was. Their loss.
 
grantmac said:
care and make every effort to ensure all goes smoothly and as effortlessly as possible. Must say I'm impressed at how it all works over here. They make extraordinary efforts when putting the ''tap'' in.
Well here they have to...if they didn't they simple wouldn't get any takers
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In what was the permanent City donation centre at, if I recall correctly, Moorgate, they used to give donors a local anaesthetic, before inserting ‘the tap’. I always thought it a bit odd. I remember too that employers used to book a visit from the donation crew, to come to the office, for staff to donate. This always struck me as quite a good idea. A half an hour lie down, in the working day. It got my vote.
 
I would rise to the occasion but I am between appointments, not allowed to do it again for a couple of months - even though my arm feels pretty much full again...

There is some incompetence in the system but generally it all goes to plan within a fairly reasonable timeframe and I like to get the text informing me of the hospital that its been sent to.
 
In my case, the first annoyance was a stupid woman that was hopeless connecting the platelet kit. She hit a valve in my arm so the machine filled with blood and couldn’t return it to my body, thus ending the session without donation. The second time I attended at 08:30 on Boxing Day, a similar tale of incompetence and I was sent home having wasted my time and petrol (here down South you go to Southampton Hospital blood unit to donate platelets).


The final straw was after having fought through rush hour traffic by scooter on a blazing hot day, the blood nurse decided I had a heart murmur (I don’t !!). After phoning the hospital honchos the Spanish Sister in the unit argued with me, stating I can’t donate and need to see my GP, they then raised a referral. My GP (who is a “proper doctor” qualified in medicine unlike the blood squad) could find no trace of heart palpitations or murmurs on a full-wire ECG trace.

Fuck ‘em ! Shove your blood and platelets up your arse, along with your free biscuits!
 
Wapping said:
In what was the permanent City donation centre at, if I recall correctly, Moorgate, they used to give donors a local anaesthetic, before inserting ‘the tap’. I always thought it a bit odd. I remember too that employers used to book a visit from the donation crew, to come to the office, for staff to donate. This always struck me as quite a good idea. A half an hour lie down, in the working day. It got my vote.
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The factory I worked in when I was younger in the good old days...a large truck type thing would arrive and the factory let people have time off too donate...
 
Got talked into giving blood many many years ago by my then lady friend as she gave on a regular basis, ended up sat in the hospital toilet with my head between my legs I felt that faint! Suffice to say I never gave any more but have said if family or friends need my blood I’d do it.
 
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