Donating Blood and other thoughts....

[Times Roman]

I received a letter from my local blood bank. I donate a pint every other month, and this time, they say they would be interested if I were to donate platelettes. Able to do so every other week, however, it takes TWO hours to complete the task.

Wondering if any of you donate platelettes and what your thoughts on this are?

 

[#TheMatrix]

.....damn.

youre saving the world one pint at a time.
I only donate. when I feel like my heads hot all the time and th pressure is too much

 

[AndroSport]

Never done the platelets but wanting to do the "double red" donation next...

 

[amore169]

Never done platelets, I usually do double blood red cells, but they pay people who donate them, I think the first time the pay like $120 then like $80 the next time you donate them.

 

[Illtemper]

I never dd platelets. Red Cross I don't think pays for platelets.....

 

[Times Roman]

Never done platelets, I usually do double blood red cells, but they pay people who donate them, I think the first time the pay like $120 then like $80 the next time you donate them.

Pay?

People don't sell blood anymore, do they?

 

[dj920]

technically, the red cross prohibits donation by anyone who's injected a drug not prescribed by a doctor (that would include anything from a UGL).

... but the red cross eligibility requirements as they're written are full of shit, based on social values and not medical knowledge. (e.g. why not ask about safe needle practices instead of banning everyone who fits a general profile that is "bad"? and don't even get me started on the "gay blood ban".) most people I know that give blood violate more than one of the rules.

go for it! you'll be saving lives. demand for platelets chronically outstrips supply --- part of this is that platelets "expire" after only 5 days, while whole blood says good for about 6 weeks, so little dips in supply or bumps in demand really fuck with the system running smoothly. (friends that have done it tell me that the blood feels "cold" on the way back in, but I think it's just in their heads.)