Joan and I gave blood this morning. It is Joan’s 61st donation. I am unsure of how many I have made because records haven’t been kept for donations starting back in the 50s.
The screening process is thorough…. questions about who you did it with and where; where you have visited and lived etc etc. With each new interviewer the Malaria thing comes up again. “Where did you contract Malaria; when and almost Why?’
The Blood Bank is run by the Red Cross with suitable government support along with support from lotteries and health funds. It must cost a fortune to run. The bags for whole blood donations cost around $30 and the bags for just plasma cost around $100. The machinery, specialist donor stations, the staff and the generous refreshments must make my 470ml of whole blood very expensive.
The woman who interviewed me asked if I wanted to donate plasma. I said I would, but then she suggested that as I was to have the big birthday (70) at the end of the year it was probably too late. Too late! 70 is not an age for one to be told it is too late!
Of course what she meant was that one can no longer donate after turning 70.
There was a bit of drama in the courtyard outside the bloodbank. It seems that someone had walked in and stolen a bicycle parked there by a donor. The receptionist noticed a footprint in the sand and called the cops. The poor cop was supposed to do a forensic job on the footprint and nab the wheely thief. He politely informed them that CIS is actually a fictional TV show and he couldn’t do much for them.
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