Too many stupid questions.

Whose blood is it? Where did you get it? Why is it in a bucket?

Sir, what type of blood do you have?

-All of them.

A while back, folks, medical ones, wanted me to donate blood. That no longer happens, I just telll them some of the stupid medicines doctors have me taking. They don't want it. Not sure why it doesn't kill me, but pretty sure it will kill their patients.

Last time I tried they said I was a mad cow and turned me away

I went to donate back in college. When doing the questionnaire, I realized that I was not qualified. I told the lady that was drawing blood and she said “That’s okay, you can still donate we will just discard it”.
After I realized she wasn’t kidding I just walked away.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Last time I tried they said I was a mad cow and turned me away

Same thing for me when I tried to donate, I guess living in Germany was a bad thing even though I did not live there the years they specified on the questionnaire.

Blood transfusions are big business. The Red Cross sells the blood to hospitals for $200-$250 pint and a typical hospital will charge around $1,500 for a 1-pint transfusion.

Of course if you are in the hospital and desperately need a blood transfusion or two then I guess the numbers are irrelevant.

first time I donated I did not know you should eat etc before hand

I got up, went to work (we had a blood drive) on my day off, donated, and was sitting outside the bus drinking a small gingerale, talking to a coworker, and promptly passed out

woke up as they were carrying me back into the van,,


left, had a good meal, and went white water rafting the next day

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Too many stupid questions.

Whose blood is it? Where did you get it? Why is it in a bucket?

Too funny. Laughed so hard I hurt.

"Have you had sex with any gay Haitian men recently?"

Just one of the stupid questions Red Cross used to ask.

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:

"Have you had sex with any gay Haitian men recently?"

When our younger was in college, my wife was really concerned about AIDS. The kid told her, "Don't worry Mom, I'm safe. I only date Haitian transgender intravenous drug users."

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
first time I donated I did not know you should eat etc before hand

I got up, went to work (we had a blood drive) on my day off, donated, and was sitting outside the bus drinking a small gingerale, talking to a coworker, and promptly passed out

woke up as they were carrying me back into the van,,


left, had a good meal, and went white water rafting the next day

I haven't donated in a while, but they used to give you orange juice or a donut when you were done just for that reason.

I used to donate blood regularly. Then I worked for a medical device manufacturer working on technology improving blood quality.

I learned a lot more about the blood industry. Yes, all of them are non-profit but non-profit is only a tax status. Organizations were competing for market share and territories. The saying is true: if you like sausage, don't watch it being made.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I used to donate blood regularly. Then I worked for a medical device manufacturer working on technology improving blood quality.

I learned a lot more about the blood industry. Yes, all of them are non-profit but non-profit is only a tax status. Organizations were competing for market share and territories. The saying is true: if you like sausage, don't watch it being made.

Blood is in short supply and you're worried about tax status and market shares ?

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Blood transfusions are big business. The Red Cross sells the blood to hospitals for $200-$250 pint and a typical hospital will charge around $1,500 for a 1-pint transfusion.

Of course if you are in the hospital and desperately need a blood transfusion or two then I guess the numbers are irrelevant.

Crap! Why can't I just sell mine directly to the hospital instead?

If you've ever donated blood....there's a possibility.....that it's in some dude's boner right now.

If it's in short supply I'll gladly sell them some of mine.

"You have something of value and it's very important, so you should give it away for free so we can sell it to someone else." (who will in turn sell it again for even more)

Interesting business model, I'm surprised the government lets them get away with it. By get away with it, I mean generally the government doesn't like competition when it comes to one sided unethical money makers. That's their gig.

Back when I was in the Army and it got about the end of the month a couple of us would go to 2 or 3 Blood Banks and donate for beer and grill food !
If we stopped and grabbed breakfast @ Village Inn we could go 3 places , if we did IHOP it was only enough for 2.
How I never killed myself back then just flat smooth amazes me !

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I used to donate blood regularly. Then I worked for a medical device manufacturer working on technology improving blood quality.

I learned a lot more about the blood industry. Yes, all of them are non-profit but non-profit is only a tax status. Organizations were competing for market share and territories. The saying is true: if you like sausage, don't watch it being made.

Blood is in short supply and you're worried about tax status and market shares ?

No. The different blood organizations are worried about their market shares and profits. When I give to a non-profit, I expect their primary mission to be to bring their services to the people in need at the lowest cost. I don't expect them to see my donation to be seen as a product on which they can earn a profit. When I donate goods to Goodwill, I know the company makes a profit but the process of turning a profit involves employing people who need low skill jobs. The people who get the blood don't get the blood at a low cost; they get it at whatever is going market rate.

CAS' view above is more like mine: "If it's in short supply I'll gladly sell them some of mine."

You're free to donate your own blood. Knock yourself out.

I used to donate every 57 days, I'm over 12 gallons now. When they stop requiring a mask at the blood center I'll go back.