Do Something Amazing- Give Blood

flea72

how is everyone finding the new appointment system?

at my local session, it is now nigh on impossible to be able to give blood as its more or less appointment only. waiting 2hrs on the offchance they have a space, is a real pita.

its also impossible to get an appointment if you havent attended a session. since you can now make another appointment for the next session when you donate, it means thats already filled again, months in advance

ive given blood for about 10yrs now, but due to having a baby last year, i got out of their loop, and now im able to give blood again, i cant get in, as its so full

I know resources arent infinite, but if a session is so popular, why dont they attend in that area for longer, or more often? ive lost count of the number of times (pre baby) that people came in, saw the waiting time, and left again.

OK, on the one hand, its great that so many people are giving blood in my area, its just i wish i could still do my bit too

Flea

marshall2k

I like the appointment system. I have booked an appointment online a couple of weeks before the session date and received a time pretty close to that requested.

I am always offered the chance to make an appointment for the next session but turn it down as I don't know when I'll be free. Maybe other people are in the same boat so they don't fill up early at my session?

jackieb

surreysaver wrote: »

They cannot take blood if you've had a transfusion since 1980 to reduce the risk of vCJD transmission. There is no test for vCJD, so the only way to reduce the chance of transmission is to reduce the risk. If the blood you received had vCJD in it, then other people would also have received that blood. If you then donate blood, you will be passing the infection to several other people, so from the one person originally infected it could then end up passing the infection to dozens, possibly hundreds of others.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence though!

noonesperfect

flea72 wrote: »

how is everyone finding the new appointment system?

at my local session, it is now nigh on impossible to be able to give blood as its more or less appointment only. waiting 2hrs on the offchance they have a space, is a real pita.

its also impossible to get an appointment if you havent attended a session. since you can now make another appointment for the next session when you donate, it means thats already filled again, months in advance

ive given blood for about 10yrs now, but due to having a baby last year, i got out of their loop, and now im able to give blood again, i cant get in, as its so full

I know resources arent infinite, but if a session is so popular, why dont they attend in that area for longer, or more often? ive lost count of the number of times (pre baby) that people came in, saw the waiting time, and left again.

OK, on the one hand, its great that so many people are giving blood in my area, its just i wish i could still do my bit too

Flea

It's a shame you've "missed the boat" so to speak since you had a baby.
The last time I donated locally there were people who were obviously attending for the first time and being seen. However, there are regular sessions at this venue throughout the year.
Personally I like the appointment system. I'm already booked to go in June and October. I would never go "on spec" again, after all, you can cancel right up to the day before.
If I were you I would find out when they're next in the area, make an appointment, get a babysitter and go off and do your bit (welcome break for you from the wailing for a bit :rotfl: )

surreysaver

jackieb wrote: »

Thanks, I didn't know that. Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence though!

There might even be a test for vCJD, but they just don't want anyone to know, as it would scare off all the blood donors! It is not like when HIV first came on the scene - you knew if you were in a high risk group (gay male, shared needles etc), but with vCJD in theory everyone has the same risk of having it.

If people were in a high risk group and didn't want to be tested for HIV, then the reduction of blood donors would have been negligable. Whereas if a test for vCJD was brought in and people at risk didn't want to be tested, they might suddenly find they had no blood donors. Personally, I would want to know, but then I already have a house, illness and life insurance. If you were positive and didn't have those things, unless some new legislation was brought in to protect blood donors against positive results, you wouldn't be able to get a mortgage, or life or illness insurance.

Also, when a blood transfusion is done, the risks are weighed up. If the risk of you dying by not receiving blood is greater than the risk of contracting vCJD from the blood, then you are better off having the transfusion. I believe that there have been only four cases of vCJD being transmitted via blood donations, so the risk is minute. But then they reckon the incubation period of vCJD could be 40 years, so the 160 or so cases of vCJD seen so far could just be the first wave...

surreysaver

flea72 wrote: »

how is everyone finding the new appointment system?

I booked an appointment for my first donation last October. Had to cancel and rebook the following week at another location as I had a cold, no problem. I book at each appointment now for the next one 16 weeks ahead. They ought to have a couple of beds that aren't booked for the benefit of people who turn up, as due to work commitments or other reasons people might not know when or if they're able to attend. Also, people like me who might have had a cold would be able to attend a few days later may have trouble if they just turn up?

I suppose you could always book an appointment or two and if you don't turn up your gap will be used for people who just turn up or just for them to catch up on late running. Would the online sustem let you book two appointments on the same day? I know I used it to book one 15 weeks after a previous donation - although they say 16 weeks between donations, I believe they allow 12 weeks between?

surreysaver

oldhaggis wrote: »

First one person tried and then asked her senior for help. They made several attempts with two needles, after which they gave up. My entire inner arm was black and blue for a week.


Has anyone had a similar experience? Should I try a different centre perhaps?

After giving blood for the first time last year, I received a letter saying my blood was suitable for babies and could I attend to see if my blood was suitable for platelet donation. Unfortunately, although my veins are perfectly good for taking blood, they were not good for receiving the my blood back from the machine after removing the bits they wanted because my veins have lots of branches in them and wouldn't have been able to cope with receiving the blood back at the high pressure without my blood squirting everywhere!

A shame really, as I would have liked to donate for little babies (and other people with supressed immune systems that my blood is suitable for), and I could quite easily have given up a couple of hours every other week as the blood centre is on my way to work! (Although I believe they are closing Tooting down soon).

nala9258

surreysaver wrote: »

There might even be a test for vCJD, but they just don't want anyone to know, as it would scare off all the blood donors! It is not like when HIV first came on the scene - you knew if you were in a high risk group (gay male, shared needles etc), but with vCJD in theory everyone has the same risk of having it.

If people were in a high risk group and didn't want to be tested for HIV, then the reduction of blood donors would have been negligable. Whereas if a test for vCJD was brought in and people at risk didn't want to be tested, they might suddenly find they had no blood donors. Personally, I would want to know, but then I already have a house, illness and life insurance. If you were positive and didn't have those things, unless some new legislation was brought in to protect blood donors against positive results, you wouldn't be able to get a mortgage, or life or illness insurance.

Also, when a blood transfusion is done, the risks are weighed up. If the risk of you dying by not receiving blood is greater than the risk of contracting vCJD from the blood, then you are better off having the transfusion. I believe that there have been only four cases of vCJD being transmitted via blood donations, so the risk is minute. But then they reckon the incubation period of vCJD could be 40 years, so the 160 or so cases of vCJD seen so far could just be the first wave...

I'm a medical student and there seems to be some confusion over whether there is a test for nvCJD. The answer is that there is no test for nvCJD, and the blood is not screened for this disease. What does happen is that the blood has some parts (leucocytes) removed, this decreases the risk of transmission of nvCJD from blood products. Also there have only been 3 reported cases of nvCJD having been transmitted after the person had received blood products (they could have had it anyway)

surreysaver

nala9258 wrote: »

I'm a medical student and there seems to be some confusion over whether there is a test for nvCJD. The answer is that there is no test for nvCJD, and the blood is not screened for this disease. What does happen is that the blood has some parts (leucocytes) removed, this decreases the risk of transmission of nvCJD from blood products. Also there have only been 3 reported cases of nvCJD having been transmitted after the person had received blood products (they could have had it anyway)

I thought it was four cases? Agreed - it is not certain vCJD was transmitted via blood, although it does seem likely. There is a test - but you have to be dead to have it done!

surreysaver

nala9258 wrote: »

I'm a medical student and there seems to be some confusion over whether there is a test for nvCJD. The answer is that there is no test for nvCJD, and the blood is not screened for this disease. What does happen is that the blood has some parts (leucocytes) removed, this decreases the risk of transmission of nvCJD from blood products. Also there have only been 3 reported cases of nvCJD having been transmitted after the person had received blood products (they could have had it anyway)

Out of interest - what is the difference between nvCJD and vCJD? Or just different terms for the same thing?