#give blood

[blackleatherjacketz]

This photo was taken mere moments before I passed the fuck out and they had to shake me awake. Guess I’m not cut out to have a vampire boyfriend, after all.

[pinkfloyd-musicartnaturelove]

David Gilmour and Pete Townshend, rehearsing Pete's song, Give Blood, 1985.

[wensdaiambrose]

Did you know that the Pope can’t be an organ donor?

[weirdlookindog]

Give Blood by Paul Garner

[boffincoderproducts]

Different blood types are needed at different times. O-negative is like a universal donor for emergencies. AB blood is important for universal plasma, and platelets are always needed because they don't last long. Your blood donation, no matter what type, is really important.

[astridflies]

Thank you for spreading all the awareness about misconceptions people have about blood donations requirements due to recent changes. I saw you in the comments on the poll and your addition to the post. It’s a big deal and I really don’t think people understand how it really does save someone’s life directly.

Thank you! I work in blood research so this is kind of my life. Let me take this opportunity to talk about the donation types and what it means for patients:

Whole blood: a person in the US needs a transfusion ever 2 seconds. Often patients need this immediately, so hospitals need to keep a supply on hand because seconds are literally the difference between life and death.

Double red cell: collects twice as many red cells as a whole blood donation, which means you can help multiple trauma/surgery patients

Platelets: helps cancer patients, people with blood disorders, people who are getting transplants. These are critical because platelets (white blood cells) are more sensitive than red cells and have a much shorter storage life.

Plasma: helps burn patients or people who are going into shock. AB donors are the universal donor for this kind of donation, and it is often critical for people who are undergoing a traumatic childbirth.

I recently heard of a woman who had a critical complication in pregnancy. She received over 50 units of blood to survive the surgery. That's the equivalent to bleeding to death EIGHT TIMES. The US has a really high maternal mortality rate.

If you can donate please do. If you can't for whatever reason, encourage the people in your life who can.

This is the chronically ill website, so I love to reiterate that being deferred from donation is not a moral failing. We want our donors to be safe as much as we want our recipients to be safe.

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

After a day spent wrangling his students on a field trip to Lake Hylia and having to skip lunch, Link is sure that he'll be fine to go donate blood that evening. He is not fine. But at least he gets to spend some extra time with the lovely nurse, and eat a truly impressive amount of oreos, so, it could be worse?

For @zelinktines23 Day 21: Meet-weird!

This was a blast to write! Thank you @silentprincess17 for consulting, and @ladyhoneydee and @alucanid for being the most superb of beta readers

Snippet under the cut

The door to the Hyrule Blood Services clinic chimed as it swung open. The nurse at the front desk gave him a cheerful smile, and he returned it with a friendly wave.

“Link Akkala?” she asked, glancing down at her computer screen.

“5 o’clock, that would be me!” he said, pulling out his donor card and swiping his card under the scanner.

“Oh congratulations, I see it’s your tenth time donating!”

“Do I get a prize?” he winked, and she laughed.  

“I think your tenth visit entitles you to a blood services keychain.” She said, pulling one out from a box underneath her desk. He pocketed the “I save lives” keychain and took the clipboard she held out.

“Any issues with the questionnaire? As a seasoned donor, I assume you filled it out at home yesterday.”

“Yep, no issues at all. Nothing more exciting to report than my COVID booster a couple of months ago.” He handed back the form with his signature messily scrawled at the bottom.

“Great. I’ll just hand you off to Zelda here, she’ll get you set up.”

“Awesome, thanks.” 

She turned her attention back to the computer screen, and he followed the other nurse over to the screening room, shedding his light blue jacket as he sat down. The nurse – Zelda, what a pretty name – walked him through the more detailed version of the online questionnaire he’d finished the day before.

“All right, you’ve been here a few times, you know the drill,” she said, leafing through the printed questionnaire and asking the usual follow-up questions. It was all pretty routine, and she was very professional, but being questioned about his sexual habits always irked him a bit. He clamped down any sarcastic comments he might have made about lingering homophobic policies when he noticed the apologetic look in her eyes. Save that for another time, he figured. A quick blood pressure check and a finger prick to test his hemoglobin levels, and she led him back out into the main room. 

She patted one of the chairs. “All right Mr Akkala, lie back and relax.” she said, gesturing for him to make himself comfortable.

“Gladly. And please, call me Link. It feels weird being called Mr Akkala when I’m not at work.” 

That got her to smile. “Fine by me, Link. Which arm?” she asked, pulling out a thick, colourful elastic strap. He held out his left arm, and she wrapped it around his well-muscled bicep. “Oooh, you’ve got nice veins!” she remarked.

He laughed. “So I’ve heard, but it’s not a compliment I get often.”

“Well, it’s true.” She grinned as she pulled out the bags, labeling them with the appropriate barcodes. “Love a man who makes my life easier. I hate having to dig around, almost as much as my patients do.”

“I can imagine it’s not fun.”

“Nope. Do you want a blanket? Stress ball?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!”

“Okay, let me just grab those…” She walked off to the bin of cozy blankets at the other end of the room. She had a pleasant voice, Link noticed. It was lightly accented, but he couldn’t quite place where it was from. She sounded dignified, even when talking about veins.

“There you go.” She tucked the blanket around his legs, popped the heated stress ball into his palm, and tilted the chair back. “Ready to start?”

“Yep!”

She quickly sanitized his arm and her hands, putting on a pair of nitrile gloves before pulling the needle out of its pouch, clipping it to the bag’s connecting tube. He turned his head away as she threaded it neatly into a prominent vein by his left elbow.

She worked quickly and efficiently, but Link couldn’t stop himself from noticing how soft and gentle her hands were. The tube filled up with blood and the machine holding the bag started to tilt back and forth to keep the flow moving.

“You’re all set! I’ll be back in a few minutes, just gotta fill out some paperwork.” 

“I’ll be good, I promise.” He winked, and she laughed. He liked her laugh, too. It was sweet, melodic.

Stop thinking about how cute the nurse is, Link, he chided himself as she walked back over to her desk. He lay back, pulling out his phone and opening up some silly game that his students had told him about. It didn’t hold his attention for long, only slightly distracting him from Zelda working away at her desk at the far end of the room. She looked so serious, poring over her work with a slight furrow in her brow and occasionally biting her lower lip. She glanced up at him, and he quickly turned his attention up to the ceiling, absent-mindedly counting the styrofoam tiles and fluorescent bulbs, as the soft clicks and whooshing of the collection machine hummed away in the background. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turning back to her paperwork. He lifted his head to glance at her again, but the angle meant that he just happened to catch a glimpse of the tube in his arm. He felt his stomach lurch, his hands going limp, and the ball dropping onto the floor, and ohhh no what’s happening –

Blackness.

[total-derangement-of-the-senses]

Song of the Day

18 Mar., ‘23

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

This is a quick reminder for y'all to go give blood! NHS blood stocks run low this time of year, and they need donors urgently! And! Unlike a murdersaurus or a really big frog, your blood is happy to go with nurses

Get signed up here:

https://www.blood.co.uk/

basically, i think the general rule of thumb is: if someone REALLY wants the blood that’s inside of your body, and they’re like… a vampire, or a dracula, or some sort of mansquito, then that’s probably okay. a dracula and a mansquito are made for removing things like blood and swords from inside your body. that’s basically fine.

if something wants to get at your blood, and they’re, say, some kind of murdersaurus, or maybe a really big frog, that’s where the problems start to arise. a really frog is not made for removing blood, and your blood knows this, which is why it is so vehement about wanting to stay IN your body instead of coming out. 

unfortunately this will not deter a really big frog, because a really big frog is full of things like prizes, and value, and quite a lot of hatred, and it would REALLY rather like to replace any and all of those things with your blood, and basically by any means possible.

[boffincoderproducts]

By donating blood, you can save lives and inspire hope. It's a simple way to make a big difference.

[i-dont-even-know-anymore976]

GIVE BLOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

seriously - when else are you encouraged to lie there and play on your phone (and even get a cookie for your efforts!)

*if you're eligible

[adaginy]

I give blood regularly, so I can answer specifically that it's average but weird on my right arm (I have two smaller veins instead of one, apparently) and hard on my left (not sure why, but it always required getting an expert, who eventually politely asked if they could try the other arm). However, I once had a doctor's office manage to give me a bruise the size of my palm from taking just a couple vials, so I tell the blood place that they can give me the trainee if they want because the bar is really low.

[iyrinhealth]

Give Blood, Save Lives: The Power of Donation

Importance of Blood Donation

1. Saves Lives

   - Blood donations help patients undergoing surgeries, trauma victims, and those with severe anemia or chronic diseases like cancer.

2. Supports Medical Treatments

   - Blood is essential for various medical treatments, including cancer therapies, organ transplants, and treatment of blood disorders like hemophilia.

3. Emergency Preparedness

   - Maintaining an adequate blood supply is vital for responding to emergencies, such as natural disasters or mass casualty events.

4. Helps People in Need

   - Many individuals rely on regular blood transfusions for their survival, such as those with sickle cell disease or thalassemia.

5. Community Health

   - Blood donation fosters a sense of community and solidarity, as it encourages individuals to contribute to the well-being of others.

6. Promotes Health Awareness

   - The blood donation process often includes health screenings that can help donors identify potential health issues.

7. Enhances Research and Development

   - Donated blood is also used for research and the development of new treatments and therapies.

8. Boosts the Blood Supply

   - Regular donations help ensure a stable blood supply, which is crucial for healthcare facilities to operate effectively.

9. Simple and Safe Process

   - The donation process is quick, generally safe, and can be done regularly, making it an accessible way for many people to contribute to public health.

Overall, blood donation is a vital act that supports healthcare systems, saves lives, and strengthens communities.

[bronalnespoth]

Charity Blood Drive

Today was iBlood's Annual Commemorative Blood Drive.

It was SUPER busy. I was shocked at just how successful it was.

I think the only other charity event I saw more people at was the downtown homeless breakfast a few months back (I learned how to make some pretty mean eggs that day).

Charity work is exhausting, but always extremely fulfilling.

It's hard to do as much as I used to with my new part-time.

Maybe I can convince my new company to start it's own charity.

Then I could get the best of both worlds.

[roadtonasty]

[cyberwulf]

I've been very lax about giving blood these past several years, I always seem to be sick or away whenever the blood donation van is in town. Need to start doing it again, I share a blood type with a relative who has a number of chronic conditions and may require surgery in the future