Bubbletrubble
Contributor
@Insta-Gator: As a civilian, is there a way to specify that one's blood donation makes it to the Armed Services Whole Blood Processing Lab?
arghhh Red Cross!
- Thread starter sawhalen
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Thanks for the link. I may be wrong (yes, it's possible, unlikely
but possible) but I have always thought that some portion of donated blood went to the military as well as emergency rooms and lastly used for elective surgery. Never assumed that 'my' blood went directly to the military but considered that donating increased the amount available on all counts and that war time service members received priority. 
I usually donate with LifeShare Blood Center here in my area. I've been giving double red cells and have to wait 112 days between donations. I haven't been to Mexico in a while, so I don't know what the disqualifications are. I have been out of the country to other places (Cayman Islands) and normally have to undergo a series of additional questions before being allowed to donate. AFAIK, you can specify where your blood is used, because they always ask if I'm donating for a specific need. When I went in last month, they told me that my blood would likely go towards infant needs because I was part of a very small percentage who had compatible blood cells for infants (?)
I can understand your frustration, but I'm not sure they can be too cautious in screening donors. Perhaps if your travel precludes you from giving blood, you can find other ways to help the organization out?
I can understand your frustration, but I'm not sure they can be too cautious in screening donors. Perhaps if your travel precludes you from giving blood, you can find other ways to help the organization out?
having worked in the past as both a screener and a phlebotomist for Great Lakes Blood Bank, affiliated with ASWBPL, I can definitively say that well over 90% of the blood used for "combat troops" is obtained from US military blood donation centers and blood banks. The vast majority of blood given to stateside service members and their families is received from numerous source to include ARC, Blood Services USA, and a bunch of others.
Thus ones blood that is donated to the ARC (or other such agency) is TECHNICALLY given, at least a very small percentage, to service members. The down side to this is that most of it is given to either those service members who are having elective surgeries or the ones going through certain types of blood treatments.
Very, very, very little of the ARC blood actually makes it into the combat zones or to the front line troops.
That being said one can donate to the troops directly by getting a hold of your local military or VA hospital. Even if they do not have a "blood cadre" they can point you to the place that they purchase their blood from for surgeries. (yes purchase, with tax money...!)
I know that when I was on the Great Lakes team we would average 2 -3 drives a week. 1 at the "boot camp" side getting all the freshly scared boots to "volunteer" to give blood to get out of a days worth of getting their butts physically PT'ed to death. The second would usually be on the "advanced training" side where the recruits would go after boot camp. This setup worked out nice because it was roughly 2 months of boot and then they were "qualified" to give again. If we did a third one in a week we would try to do it somewhere that spouses and even members of the "non-military community" could come out and donate. This may have been places like the base housing gym (not really on base so civilians could get there too) or the gas station outside base or any number of other locations.
Anyways, sorry for the long rant and rave. Bottom line is if you are still concerned for the troops in Afghanistan and want to try and make sure your blood goes to them your best bet is to contact your local military hospital, whether that be Army, Navy or Air Force. Another option would be the VA, although the majority of this goes to veterans (the ones who have already been kicked out/retired cause their arm or leg got blown off). ARC and others will not be able to even give you a glimmer of hope of helping a wounded 18 yr old kid who got his arm blown off in the dusty town of kalamamala...
Thus ones blood that is donated to the ARC (or other such agency) is TECHNICALLY given, at least a very small percentage, to service members. The down side to this is that most of it is given to either those service members who are having elective surgeries or the ones going through certain types of blood treatments.
Very, very, very little of the ARC blood actually makes it into the combat zones or to the front line troops.
That being said one can donate to the troops directly by getting a hold of your local military or VA hospital. Even if they do not have a "blood cadre" they can point you to the place that they purchase their blood from for surgeries. (yes purchase, with tax money...!)
I know that when I was on the Great Lakes team we would average 2 -3 drives a week. 1 at the "boot camp" side getting all the freshly scared boots to "volunteer" to give blood to get out of a days worth of getting their butts physically PT'ed to death. The second would usually be on the "advanced training" side where the recruits would go after boot camp. This setup worked out nice because it was roughly 2 months of boot and then they were "qualified" to give again. If we did a third one in a week we would try to do it somewhere that spouses and even members of the "non-military community" could come out and donate. This may have been places like the base housing gym (not really on base so civilians could get there too) or the gas station outside base or any number of other locations.
Anyways, sorry for the long rant and rave. Bottom line is if you are still concerned for the troops in Afghanistan and want to try and make sure your blood goes to them your best bet is to contact your local military hospital, whether that be Army, Navy or Air Force. Another option would be the VA, although the majority of this goes to veterans (the ones who have already been kicked out/retired cause their arm or leg got blown off). ARC and others will not be able to even give you a glimmer of hope of helping a wounded 18 yr old kid who got his arm blown off in the dusty town of kalamamala...
Belmont
Contributor
How long do you have to wait after donating blood before diving/deco diving?
bleeb
Contributor
This should really be a separate thread.
For NDL diving, my personal non-expert opinion is to go with this: DAN | Medical
The caveat to consider in risk/contingency planning is that your cardio capacity/endurance will be down for a few days to a couple of weeks. The latter might be a more important criterion for deco diving, but maybe those with more experience in the area can comment.
Canadian Blood Services is the opposite. Coz is fine Playa / Cancun was the no no. I was very disappointed. Was scheduled to donate Platletes for the 1st time. Actiualy felt kinda special that I could donate a little extra, but was shot down. Oh well should be good again in January. No trips planned.
I donated double red on Monday and on the next Saturday did a three hour drive each way with three dives totaling 2 hours of bottom time. I was completely wiped out on Sunday! I probably would have been wiped out without donating the blood, however.
The Red Cross, or any other blood donation organization, has nothing to do with deferrals. That is dictated by the FDA in the USA. The donation agencies would prefer getting as much blood as possible but they will get fined if they accept blood from someone who should have been deferred. I'm a regular blood donor (O- and CMV-) with Inova in northern Virginia. I donate whole blood every 56 days or double red cells every 112 days. I went to Belize in March of 2010 and was deferred because of potential malaria for one year because I stayed outside of Belize City.
Sas
Contributor
Here in Australia if you have been to Mexico (anywhere in Mexico) you are banned from full blood donations for three months but they will accept plasma. I only found this on my second donation after I went to Mexico this year when the nurse told me that even though I did a full blood donation the time before, they only used the plasma. Given the shorter period you have to wait after donating plasma to donate again, if they'd told me that the first time I could have come back sooner!
The blood bank always tells me to wait three days though I am happy to dive 24hrs after and I have done so a number of times with no ill affects. I have not been particularly affected by blood donations, other than the last one I did where I felt faint after.
Belmot:
The blood bank always tells me to wait three days though I am happy to dive 24hrs after and I have done so a number of times with no ill affects. I have not been particularly affected by blood donations, other than the last one I did where I felt faint after.
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