Blood shortage

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » January 15, 2003, 12:58 pm

please give if you can

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... shortage_1

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 15, 2003, 1:03 pm

don't tell me they used up all that blood yassir arafat donated already.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 15, 2003, 1:07 pm

After 9/11 they were throwing it away. There was not enough room to store the flood of donations.

Speaking of donations, Red Cross fucked up bigtime with the whole 9/11 fiasco and have been paying the consequences ever since.

You do know that when they take your blood, they sell it, right? Check how much a blood transfusion is next time you or someone close to you has surgery.

I recognize the kind gesture that comes with donating. Maybe I'm just too jaded.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » January 15, 2003, 1:10 pm

selling it isnt neccessarily bad.

the question is do they sell it at a profit?

running a blood collection, maintainance, and distribution network probably costs a shitload of money. I think it is legitimate to pass on a portion of that expense to the insurance carrier of the person receiving treatment. Then the carrier can decide (haha big mystery here) if they will pass that expense on to the individual

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 15, 2003, 1:11 pm

The Red Cross sells it, the other major blood bank in the US (name escapes me atm), donates it; usually to charity and university funded hospitals.

If you donate anything to the red cross you are pretty much wasting it anyway. Over half the money they take in goes right towards "administrative costs" and most of the services they render don't come cheap. The Red Cross and The United Way are the two worst charities on the planet you could possibly donate anything to.

edit: freudian slip corrected

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » January 15, 2003, 1:26 pm

If you donate ANYTHING through an organization, you just wasted half your money.

Unless it's the United Way or Red Cross, in which case that figure climbs over 80%.

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » January 15, 2003, 1:32 pm

Not really. There are plenty of worthy charities that work hard to keep their costs down. If I can find it I will slap up a website I read a few months ago that rates most major charities for how worthy they are to donate to.

I remember that the united way, world wildlife fund and the red cross were the top 3 by a runaway margin though. All 3 have executives that have luxuries and salaries that rival CEO's of F500 companies.

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » January 15, 2003, 1:54 pm

I'd like too see that.

I don't make any charitable donations at the moment, other than groceries to my local food bank. Cash is just too damn abusable.

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » January 15, 2003, 2:31 pm

geez we're talking about fucking blood here, not cash or food

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 15, 2003, 2:34 pm

The Red Cross - Hepatitis free since 1993~~!!

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » January 15, 2003, 3:00 pm

You know that Shield/Storm veterans are still not allowed to donate blood?

I am soooo irked

EviliaeSoulmender · Post by **EviliaeSoulmender** » January 15, 2003, 3:37 pm

Shield/Storm veterans can donate. It may have been something else that was causing you to be deferred. I am a veteran of both and could donate until the put in the living in England/Europe for a cumalative of 6mos since 1980 deferrment

AFAIK there is no blood bank that gives away donated blood. The costs are quite substantial to process a single unit of blood. First they have to pay my salary

Which after 10 years working at the American Red Cross Im quite happy with. You would boggle at the costs of the kits to just do the viral testing. BTW the American Red Cross is a not for profit organization.

Also the information here about donating money to the Red Cross is not accurate. Now I might be falling into the trap of not researching enough, but the American Red Cross has been in the top 10 if not top 5 of best charitable organizations when it comes to percentage of a dollar going to admin costs for as long as I can remember.

Best thing that can be done about blood shortages is not to give blood when there are disasters etc but to become a regular donor. Only about 3% of eligable donors give blood.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » January 15, 2003, 3:48 pm

Hmm I will look back into it, but after Sept 11th they were still turning people away here, it could have been that I lived in Europe from 88-96 but they stated at the time it was because of Storm.

Sirensa · Post by **Sirensa** » January 15, 2003, 5:18 pm

I tried to give blood once. I passed out when they pricked my finger. I got a sticker that said "I tried". I felt like a big tard. Now I just donate extra clothes instead

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » January 15, 2003, 7:01 pm

Ya, I was going to say the testing process has to be fairly high cost.

Here is one thing I don't understand about the military.....
They knwow wher thier soldiers are going right?
They know they are going to get shot right?
Generally have some notice before doing so right?

Do they have soldiers donate blood in advance and move it with the unit? I would, I mean if my job included getting shot at, and getting shot required blood transfusions.....I'd prepare for it. And I mean there is like no testing needed if it's my own blood.

BTW what exactly does not for profit mean? Because you can save money for expanding, for rainy days, you can give people raises if you had a good year, more executive perks....

I mean what do profit companies do differently? Can not for profit sell stock? And if they do can they provide quarterly dividends to thier holders? I assume not. Would that be the only difference? That and they can ask for donations without people laughing.

Seriously. I've alwasy been confused where that fine line exists...because usually profits from one year pay off existing debt or future expansions. I work with several not for profit companies and I don't see them paying less or operating any differently then my for profit clients.

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » January 15, 2003, 7:04 pm

basically, not-for-profit (and there are several different classes of this) means you cannot show an earnings at the end of the fiscal year. There is an exemption that allows for a given amount in rainy-day funds as well.

That's about it. You are free to pay the money out however you like.

Ahmik · Post by **Ahmik** » January 15, 2003, 8:53 pm

I started to donate in 1981 (that's 22 years ago folks) on a regular basis -- I have one of the more rare blood types, though certainly not the rarest, my type being AB+.

I have donated at every available opportunity, and have just recently received my 6 Gallon pin. I'd be at 7+ gallons by now but they made me take 2 years off when I returned from the damn dessert, and another year off after I returned from Korea. I had to skip 24 donations.

once every 8 weeks times 18 years = 108 donations /16 pints to a gallon = 6.75 gallons... I missed a few times due to deployments, vacations, and just plain forgetting sometimes...

My cholesterol level was 113 when I had it checked last fall, and it has NOTHING to do with my diet or exercise program. I eat some very unhealthy stuff because I am too lazy to cook. Also, my idea of exercise is walking to the car so I can drive my lazy ass somewhere. I'm not overweight -- I'm 5'11" and weight 180.

Donating blood is good for YOU -- no matter where it goes or if it even gets used...

Go donate (or sell) your blood every 8 weeks for a year and see what a difference it makes... maybe a lot, and maybe none at all...

Acies · Post by **Acies** » January 15, 2003, 9:21 pm

AB+

It is a moot point for me, I think.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » January 16, 2003, 10:40 am

Pilsburry wrote:Here is one thing I don't understand about the military.....
They knwow wher thier soldiers are going right?
They know they are going to get shot right?
Generally have some notice before doing so right?

Do they have soldiers donate blood in advance and move it with the unit? I would, I mean if my job included getting shot at, and getting shot required blood transfusions.....I'd prepare for it. And I mean there is like no testing needed if it's my own blood.

Umm Pilsburry, soldiers do in fact donate major amounts of blood, unit competition for percentage of those donating occurs, people get time off if 100% donate etc.

Xyun · Post by **Xyun** » January 16, 2003, 11:56 am

If I'm feeling extra generous, I give homeless people a few bucks, other than that, I don't donate anything to anyone, especially my blood, and especially to charities.

VeeshanVault

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