Today I gave blood.

I have donated in the States before.
This was my first Australian donation.

Today I went to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and donated whole blood. It's been a good twenty years since I last donated. I thought I should volunteer once again. Service is good for the soul. I recommend it.

Bloody facts:

• Blood is medically important, providing substances that humankind simply cannot synthesise yet.
• Australia has one of the safest blood supplies in the world.
• There are three types of donations: whole blood, plasma and platelets. Plasma is very useful.
• O negative blood is the universal donator and can be given to anyone. (I'm A positive.)
• AB positive is the universal receiver and can receive any blood type.
• AB negative is the rarest blood type. My mother is AB negative.
• O positive is the commonest blood type. My dad is O positive.
• More blood is always needed; there is never enough.
• In Australia, blood is always donated--never sold (as plasma can be sold in the States).

Happy Donator!

My doctor okayed my suitability to donate blood, so I went to my local Red Cross. There, I filled out a questionaire regarding suitability (namely, a few health practice questions and travel questions), then I got a pinprick and a few droplets of claret squeezed out of me to check for iron levels and a few other things. (I passed with flying colours.)

Then I entered the donation room, where I got to hang out on a comfy reclining chair and donate whole blood. The staff were pleasant and my needle most sharp. Didn't even feel it going in (though I could certainly feel it in my vein). The phlebotomists said I had nice veins and should donate plasma more often. (We'll see. There are, yanno, needles involved.)

I pumped out enough blood rather quickly--good flow there, and that was that.

The last time I donated blood, I got a weeny cup of orange juice and a few cookies. Here in Australia, they really know how to feed you!

Aside of the lovely spread you see above (that's a cup of apple juice), I also had my choice of muffins, sandwiches, chocolate, and more. Blood donors are well-fed.

Will I be donating blood again? Absolutely. I had a most pleasant experience (except for, perhaps a lance, and a 16-gauge needle. Okay, the lance hurt more than the needle. But, yanno, needles).

Newspaper guys showed up. Not for me, of course, but for another donor, who was giving his 200th plasma donation. Good on you, lad!

Author Robert A Heinlein would cheerfully give his autograph to those who donated blood. Science Fiction fans in Utah regularly hold a Robert A Heinlein Memorial blood drive. They'll dress up as characters and descend upon a donation centre. It's quite a sight to see a Klingon with a needle in his arm. (I might have a photograph somewhere.)

Have you ever donated blood? What was your experience like?

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Her Grace hopes that, if you're not squeamish, you'll have a look at one more photograph:
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Last chance to click away.
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