MacRumors 2021 Blood Drive

[FloatingBones]

Here's what I am wondering - has it ever occurred to you that [SNIP]

That's what it is - creating diseased humans who will need medication all their life. Logically, this is the goal of profit-driven pharma as it milks the cash cows all their life. Government mandated medication is even better of course, guaranteed profits...

No. I don't think you're wondering. You don't rigorously contemplate the question you're asking. You didn't seek out any facts or even public writings that support your claims. In short, you don't act like a skeptic. Flat-earthers don't "wonder" if their idea makes rational sense. Anti-vaxxers don't have periodic reviews of the data to see if their thinking is nonsensical. And moon landing conspiracy theorists don't really "wonder" if their ideas are just kooky.

What if a used car dealership could somehow convince people to buy their ********* cars else grandma dies? Their sales would boom!

Your hypothetical makes absolutely no sense. No auto dealer -- new or used -- would ever try this. There would be no evidence supporting their claim. And, no, sales would not boom. This analogy is a categorical failure.

Blood is expensive - why would you give it to the hospital system for free?

Actually, there are plenty of services that will pay for donations. Look it up. If you would only donate because a service pays you for the donation, then you should donate there. AFAIK, most regular donors avoid such services. Hospitals prefer to receive their blood from voluntary sources, because paid donors may not follow the donation rules as faithfully as the volunteers.

The hospitals aren't getting blood and blood products "for free". A 2011 PUBMED article notes the average cost to hospitals was ~$211/unit.

You have no idea where [your donated blood is] going.

Actually, I have a very good idea where it's going. The Red Cross provides a "My Blood Journey" in their App; my last donation was used by the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. That unit of blood made it through the system very quickly; my [anecdotal] data leads me to guess that blood supply reserves are rather low.

Pharma's interest lies in subscription medication, with devastating effects on the health of all humans world wide. Which is why I call it a disease-care system.

Did you mean "prescription medication"? "Subscription medication" is not a term.

If you were thinking/wondering, you'd realize whole blood (and the other blood products) are anti-pharma. They are natural medications. If you're anti-pharma, you should be pro-blood, right?

All of the blood donation operations have medical doctors on their staff. All hospitals have doctors who are thoroughly competent in the nuances of whole blood and partial blood product transfusions. There's a published and peer-reviewed journal on the methodology of transfusion. You're welcome to be a denialist of the planet's blood-donation system, but your ideas here make about as much sense as flat-earth thinking.

 

[barbu]

I’m a dumb sheep and slave to orthodoxy so I donated for the 36th time last Friday.

Huge double middles to the wasters cluttering this thread with their insincere pet nonsense. Go tell a neo-natal ward about your edgy, principled stance on how expendable newborns are because you have a gripe with the rules. GMAFB.

Can we please just have a nice, normal, friendly blood drive thread now please?

 

[maswriter]

I donate blood whenever I can. The last time I donated, it went to a patient in Norwalk, California. You never know whose life it might save.

 

[Doctor Q]

MacRumors Blood Drive results

This year's MacRumors Blood Drive has ended with a milestone result. Total recorded donations since we began our annual Blood Drives has now passed 1000 units of donated blood, platelets, and plasma!

This was also a record-setting year, with the highest-ever number of donations. With 106 participants, we recorded 180 donations that totaled 228 units of blood, platelets, or plasma. That represents hundreds of lives saved for patients in need.

We recognize and thank every single donor for their generosity.

See this post for full statistics and recognition of top donors.


Donating from June 2021 through April 2022

Please continue donating blood, platelet, and plasma.

From now through next April, register your donations on our team page, as follows:

1. Go to the Team MacRumors 2021-2022 page. Bookmark it for the next time.
2. Click PLEDGE TO GIVE BLOOD.
3. Fill in your MacRumors username as your first name and @ macrumors as your last name.
4. In the Comments field, tell us what type of donation and how many units, e.g., 1 unit of whole blood, 2 units of platelets, etc.
5. Fill in an email address and zip code. MacRumors won't use that information, but the fields are required.

We'll tally your donations from June to April and count them toward the MacRumors Blood Drive and its Honor Roll in May 2022!

 

[FloatingBones]

I just learned about an obscure undocumented restriction that the American Red Cross has for whole blood donation. I have been regularly donating for the past 4 years. Typically, I'd schedule donations 8 weeks plus zero-10 days after the last one. I consistently give at the local donation center, but I wanted to donate once at a large public blood drive in June. I attempted to book an appointment on the app; it wouldn't let me. I tried on the ARC website; no dice.

I finally called the ARC's 800 number. They told me that a donation on June 8 would put me at 7 donations in the past 365 days -- which apparently isn't allowed. 🤬 I can find nothing online documenting this restriction. The only thing even close is a restriction of 3x/year on Power Red donations.

If I were in charge of donations, I'd have one Big Rule:

Don't piss off your regular donors.
​

This rolling 365-day restriction seems to violate that rule. It is not documented, and I cannot fathom a medical reason for this restriction. My body is just fine with an 8-week recovery minimum; I can't imagine any biological sensitivity (i.e., any negative reaction) to what I did/didn't do one calendar year ago. I'm going to crash the event sans reservation and see if they miss that 365-check. The whole point was to see an 800-unit single-day event; I guess I can do that whether or not I donate.

I know. This is definitely a first world problem.

 

[Doctor Q]

This rolling 365-day restriction seems to violate that rule. It is not documented, and I cannot fathom a medical reason for this restriction. My body is just fine with an 8-week recovery minimum; I can't imagine any biological sensitivity (i.e., any negative reaction) to what I did/didn't do one calendar year ago.

The same question applies to Canadian Blood Services, where there's apparently a rule against making more than 24 platelet donations in a 365-day period, even though it isn't mentioned in their donation eligibility FAQ.

 

[chengengaun]

Just done with my first donation. Lignocaine was used so no pain at all! The bloodbank comes with a nice view too.

 

[barbu]

possibly of interest to some folks here:

Canadian Blood Services to recommend end to ban on donations from men who have sex with men | CBC News

An end to the ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood — promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 — is set to be recommended within weeks in favour of new screening criteria based on sexual history and behaviour.

www.cbc.ca

 

[Timelordprime]

Canadian Blood Services Will Ask to End Gender/Sexual Preference Questions
An end to the ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood — promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 — is set to be recommended within weeks in favour of new screening criteria based on sexual history and behaviour.

Canadian Blood Services to recommend end to ban on donations from men who have sex with men | CBC News

An end to the ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood — promised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2015 — is set to be recommended within weeks in favour of new screening criteria based on sexual history and behaviour.

www.cbc.ca

 

[Timelordprime]

The same question applies to Canadian Blood Services, where there's apparently a rule against making more than 24 platelet donations in a 365-day period, even though it isn't mentioned in their donation eligibility FAQ.

Same applies to 7-donations. My second-last year as whole-blood donor, I donated 7-times. It caused me grief the ensuring year. 56-days and then a limit of 7 or 24 times per year are the limits it seems in both the USA and Canada.

 

[FloatingBones]

I recently booked an appt for a December donation. The "Blood Donor American Red Cross" app is regularly crashing on my M1 MacBook Pro. The ARC just refreshed the app and it's still crashing for me. Are others seeing this failure? Would deleting the app and all data from my Mac make any difference? TIA.

 

[FloatingBones]

UPDATE: Version 2.5.1 (1511) of the "Blood Donor" American Red Cross app runs correctly on M1 Macs. It comes up in a landscape orientation but can be expanded to the full screen to see details clearly. Thanks to the ARC and the developer (3sidedcube.com) for getting this fixed.