It's a shame about the Mad Cow clause because it pre-empts Merman from giving as well, and he has a very desireable blood type. He emigrated from the UK in the '80s and therefore has that "taint." Ah well. I give, though not as frequently as I should, so thanks, SJ, for bringing up this reminder of giving opportunities.
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SoWal Blood Drive - Monday, Apr 24th
- Thread starter Smiling JOe
- Start date
Smiling JOe
SoWal Expert
That is too bad, Mermaid. The turnout yesterday was less than normal, I think primarily due to them not being in the mobile bus, which acts as a big billboard reminding every passerby to stop by and give blood. They set up in the outbuildings in front of the hospital and had additional staff to accomodate more people due to the larger room, but the turnout was down. They were very short on donations.
The good news is that they were able to have the ALYX machine set up and it is able to save steps in the filtering process and people are able to give more blood without feeling woozy at the end. With ALYX, I am able to give 2 units of red blood cells rather than one. It takes a little longer and you are not able to donate again until four months instead of two. It basically draws the blood, keeps the red and white blood cells (the white cells are tossed), and returns the plasma ( I think) in addition to a saline solution back your body, so that your blood volume doesn't decrease.
The NW FL Blood Center services the 22 hospitals in NW FL, and when they don't have enough blood, they have to buy it from Red Cross.
The good news is that they were able to have the ALYX machine set up and it is able to save steps in the filtering process and people are able to give more blood without feeling woozy at the end. With ALYX, I am able to give 2 units of red blood cells rather than one. It takes a little longer and you are not able to donate again until four months instead of two. It basically draws the blood, keeps the red and white blood cells (the white cells are tossed), and returns the plasma ( I think) in addition to a saline solution back your body, so that your blood volume doesn't decrease.
The NW FL Blood Center services the 22 hospitals in NW FL, and when they don't have enough blood, they have to buy it from Red Cross.
Chickpea
Beach Fanatic
Smiling JOe said:ChickyPea,
Just as I suspected, according to the nurse screening me for my donation today, a person can carry Mad Cow (I forget the real name) for up to twenty years without showing any signs of it. To date, we have no way to detect a carrier of the disease so the FDA would like to prevent it from spreading more and they do this by illiminating you from being a donor if you have lived in England or visited for more than three months during the time period when it was found there.
I forgot to ask about choleterol screening with donations.
You are so sweet to have asked -and all I need to do is wait for years to make sure I do not have mad cow!!!!
Good for you for being a donor and getting others to donate as well.