jethrien | Blood donation goes high tech

Blood donation goes high tech

The blood drive people have new apparatus. Instead of just clipping your bag to the railing, they put it in this little cradle that has tiny robotic arms that tips it back and forth (I guess to keep the blood flowing?) And when it gets heavy enough, the robot thing cheerfully starts cheeping until an attendant comes over and clamps the tube. It's actually ridiculously cute. (The mental image is probably cuter than the actual device. It mostly looks like a robotic swing with a digital display set. But now I'm picturing Pintsize from Questionable Content, rocking the blood cradle back and forth. Wait, no, Pintsize wouldn't be cute, he'd be creepy. Maybe the iPod robot instead. Or Marigold's chibi bot.)

Something must have happened, though - they were far more obsessive about reading you all the directions afterwards and walking you to the table and inspecting your bandage than ever before.

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tiny robotic arms that tips it back and forth (I guess to keep the blood flowing?)
It's probably to keep the blood from clotting before they add anti-coagulants to it.

Might be. Never seen them before. They were awesome.

Indeed, this is the reason. It's to make the process both quicker and more specific to a given donor while fulling mixing the blood with the anti-coagulants. And donors who bleed fast and otherwise have to beg for attention (like me) don't end up stuck to the machine longer than they have to be.

Personally, I really liked the Y-bag set up even better, where they have one pouch to fill before doing the donation so that they can take the tubes for testing first. That way, when you're done, you're done, and there's no prolonged backed-up feeling in your arm as they fill the test tubes.

I think they did do the tubes first this time, as well. Honestly, I wasn't paying attention. I'm not bothered much by giving blood in theory, and blood itself doesn't squick me, and I don't get faint or anything. But I am slightly weirded out by actually watching my own blood flow out of my arm into a bag. I tend to bring a book and try not too pay too much attention when they're fiddling with the bags. (I never actually watch them stick needles in me, either.)

They usually don't let me look when the needle comes near, which is only good at making me more afraid of needles. If I see what they do and how relatively harmless it is, I'm fine. Having to imagine it leads to paranoia and grandiose fears.

But I feel you on not wanting to see the blood flow out. It's the weirdest feeling ever to have your blood be on top of your skin. I guess I don't have to worry about it now that I'm not going to be donating anyway for a while, but still.

I never look when I'm given a shot or have blood taken. I've had nurses ask me if I'm okay--probably want warning if I'm one of those people who faint on the sight of blood. But I just don't want to tense up. You know how they tell you to relax your muscle before you get a tetanus shot? OMG DON'T TENSE YOUR MUSCLE.

The part that always feels weirdest is the heat from the tube. It makes my skin feel colder, and feel like the heat from my body is being drained out through my arm.

...I would NOT want robots involved in taking my blood. Meep.

I love robots. I majored in mechanical engineering. I built a robot that attacked the TA once. (We didn't like him. It wasn't on purpose, but I can't say I was sad.) I've got a friend who builds robot bees.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love robots, too. I built a robotic moth when I was 10, and I date a man whose BFA, of all things, involved building robots and siccing them on gallery visitors.

I just worry about letting robots near my blood. They might get IDEAS. ;-)

According to my sources at the Melville LI Center, New York Blood Services has a new CEO. One of his directives was that the technicians make sure to read all the instructions to the donors. Last time I donated, I had to initial the form saying that I'd been read the instructions.
They also added a little sticker that they put on your bandage with the time you are "allowed" to leave the canteen area... fifteen minutes after they escort you there. (I'm sensing a lawyer's hand in that one: Somewhere, sometime, someone left too soon and had an accident that was blamed on lightheadedness after giving blood.)
While I can understand their wanting to play it safe with first-time and infrequent donors, after more than 200 donations of platelets, red cells, and whole blood, I have a pretty good idea of when I'm ready to walk out the door.

I've never given blood, but I probably should (O+). It's mostly because I had altogether too much blood drawn growing up, and fainted a couple times during draws, and it just hasn't been something I'm inclined to do unnecessarily.

BUT. I would like to. I'm becoming more and more okay these days with blood drawing - at least, a single vial blood draw is nothing. But there are two reasons:

(1) A vial is not very much. I understand they take a lot more than that for donation!

(2) I've learned not to drink caffeine the day I get blood drawn or shots given, since it tenses me. I've also learned some relaxation techniques that work wonders.

(3) I'm familiar with the procedure, and usually ask the nurse if I can lie down for the draw, etc. Do I have control over the environment during a blood drive, or will it be like a community flu shot drive where you just kinda get herded through? And what is this about being stuck to a machine?!?!?

So maybe you more experienced people can help familiarize me? I just don't want my first time to be a debacle (ooh-ah).

Most of them do sort of herd you through a bit, although I think if you warn them it's your first time, they'll do some hand-holding. Generally, the procedure goes like this:

1) You check in.
2) They give you a form to fill out in little cubicles. You inform them that you haven't had corneal transplants, accepted drugs for sex, lived in Britain for a substantial amount of time during the mad cow crisis, etc.
3) They do a little physical. They take your temperature and blood pressure and pulse, ask if you're feeling ok and if you ate breakfast and whether you're over the minimum weight limit, and prick your finger for a hemoglobin sample. (They squeeze out one drop of blood, stick that in a little reader, and put a bandaid on your finger. It used to hurt a lot, but they've improved the prickers and now I barely notice it.)
4) You sit for awhile waiting for a bed to open up.

5) You start the actual donation process.
a) You hop up on a bed that's rather like a beach lounge chair. Your back's at roughly a 45 degree angle. They're adjustable, usually, so they might be able to fuss with this if you need them to.
b) They swab your arm with a disinfectant. It's cold and a little tickly, but not too unpleasant.
c) They tape the tube down to your wrist. (Removing the tape is actually going to hurt more than the needle will.)
d) They put a tourniquet (usually a blood pressure cuff) on your upper arm. Your arm rests on a fairly comfy armrest.
e) They gently insert a needle. It feels a little pinchy when they insert it, but after that you'll barely feel it if you stay still. Which you'll want to do anyway.
f) They will either fill a vial off the feed for testing before or after filling the bag. There's not much difference.
g) You sit there for awhile, depending on how long it takes for you to fill the bag. They give you something to hold in your hand, and you sort of roll it and squeeze it every couple seconds. This helps the blood keep moving so you get done faster. I usually read a book--this bit is boring.
h) You've finished filling your bag. Yay! They crimp the line and detach the bag.
i) They gently remove the needle and press down with a gauze pad. They ask you to apply pressure and hold your arm up above your head for a bit. It's about the same as raising your arm in class and the professor not noticing you for awhile. After a minute or two, they let you take your arm down, swap in a fresh pad, and wrap a bandage around your elbow.
j) They have you sit up and ask you how you're feeling. If you're dizzy, they let you lie back down until you feel a bit better. If you're ok, they tell you all the things you're not supposed to do so you won't feel dizzy. (For the next couple hours, don't drink or smoke, don't lift heavy stuff, don't do heavy exercise, don't take aspirin, don't take the bandage off or let it get wet. Double your fluid intake, maybe step up your iron and salt a bit.)
k) They walk you over to the table. A nice person feeds you something and makes you drink something. They won't let you leave until you've sat there for fifteen minutes without incident. If you get dizzy or your bandage bleeds through or whatever, they take care of you until you feel better.

So things that will make everything easier: take an iron supplement for a day or two ahead of time. Don't take aspirin for a couple days ahead of time. Make sure you eat a normal amount of food before you go in, and make sure you get a lot of liquids (low caffeine) before and after. Don't sit up too fast, and don't plan any exercise. If you take stairs too fast afterwards, you may feel more out of breath than usual. It'll take a day or two to adjust, but most people really don't feel the effects all that much unless they decide to do drunken weightlifting while smoking.

The machine thing--if your drive location has this, it's really not scary. You're not attached to it in any way. The old way of doing it was to hang the bag off your stretcher. Now, they put it in a little mechanical hammock. You're not hooked into anything, it's just that your bag gets gently tilted back and forth. You could pull the bag out if you wanted. Not scary, a little cute.

Should you ever donate platelets, that's entirely a different matter. That actually does involve being hooked up into a machine. They put a needle in each arm, and basically pull out some blood through one arm, run it through a machine that separates out the platelets, and put the platelet-less blood back into the other arm. I've never done it, but my father-in-law has. He says it's fine, it just takes awhile and you can't move your arms, so it's really boring. Not scary, though.

Basically--there's no way to know how your body will react to this without trying. But they're very aware that some people have a tendency to pass out or get dizzy, and they're really invested in making sure you're safe and comfy. It's a little assembly-line-like, but if you actually have a problem, they're trained to look after you. And the worst thing that will happen is that you'll wake up with a nice worried nurse hanging over you, who will then feed you donuts. And that's not that likely. Most people are just fine. It will be ok.

Thanks, that was really helpful.

Excellent. Things are much less intimidating when you actually have an idea going in what they're going to be like.

Oh, the other thing - give yourself lots of time. Every blood drive I've ever been to has ended up running behind schedule. :)

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Blood donation goes high tech

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