How common is the finger-sticking? I give blood regularly and they've never used my finger. Instead the blood is sampled directly from the needle in my arm at the beginning of the process.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacRumors 2024 Blood Drive!
- Thread starter Doctor Q
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Every time I've donated it's been part of the health screening prior to the main stick. They don't want to use the main supplies if the hemoglobin check comes back too low.
Considered yourself marked.
I'm glad the process is simpler now. Sometimes the interview takes almost as long as the donation!
Well, for almost 20 years, we didn't have to do it in plateletpheresis because the staff had an on-site blood lab that checked the samples for hemoglobin levels. Now we have to get poked in a finger to test hemoglobin levels.
In 2023, for cost savings, Canadian Blood Services in the Toronto Region removed the on-location labs and centralized them. Meaning, that the nurses no longer knew, during the donation process, the platelet count, and active hemoglobin count.
@Doctor Q I donated yesterday, whole blood. During some recent family gatherings the discussion of donating came up and my cousin decided to resume her donations, she donated on Tuesday.
I was in and out of the donation center in about 45 minutes. The donation itself only took 5 minutes, I hung around at the canteen for a few as I needed to kill some time.
I was in and out of the donation center in about 45 minutes. The donation itself only took 5 minutes, I hung around at the canteen for a few as I needed to kill some time.
Keep up the great work!
Like all of our friends and relatives, your cousin is welcome to record any future donations on our 2024-2025 MacRumors Team Page.
A warning to moviegoers
There's a comedy currently out in theaters named One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA. It's funny, but be aware that one scene is in a blood donation center, where things don't go as planned.
It's NOT representative of real donation centers!
There's a comedy currently out in theaters named One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA. It's funny, but be aware that one scene is in a blood donation center, where things don't go as planned.
It's NOT representative of real donation centers!
I use the Blood Donor app and am listed as being on the MR team. Is there a team admin that sees the donations on the app?
If not, then I’ll keep posting here. I donated a pint of blood this past Friday—my first of 2025.
If not, then I’ll keep posting here. I donated a pint of blood this past Friday—my first of 2025.
The site hosting our Team MacRumors page was down for a few days, due to technical problems, but it's back now.
Between now and April 30, 2025, please record your blood donations on our team page:
MacRumors Blood Drive 2024-2025
Provide your MacRumors user name and what you donated (e.g., 1 unit of whole blood), so we can include you in the next MacRumors Blood Drive.
Between now and April 30, 2025, please record your blood donations on our team page:
MacRumors Blood Drive 2024-2025
Provide your MacRumors user name and what you donated (e.g., 1 unit of whole blood), so we can include you in the next MacRumors Blood Drive.
Ok, the blood app lets me login with no issues, but I can’t seem to do so at the MR team web page, even though I’m listed as a member on the app. Hmmmm.
So I’ll just drop my activity in here to be sure:
3/14/24: 1 unit whole blood
5/16/24: same
10/11/24: same
1/24/25: same
4/10/25: same (scheduled)
I’ll try to figure the login issue out so my donations are recorded automatically.
So I’ll just drop my activity in here to be sure:
3/14/24: 1 unit whole blood
5/16/24: same
10/11/24: same
1/24/25: same
4/10/25: same (scheduled)
I’ll try to figure the login issue out so my donations are recorded automatically.
Congratulations! You deserve to be honored. Your presence will inspire everyone else.
Went to the 100th donor recognition ceremony
Neil
Neil
TRALI Testing
Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) is a rare and life-threatening condition that can affect recipients of donated platelets and plasma.
Medical studies found that TRALI could result when the antibodies responsible for TRALI are present in donated plasma, including the plasma that comes with platelets, from female donors who had been pregnant. Antibodies for TRALI pose no risk to the donor, only to the recipient.
In about 2009, many donation centers in the U.S. and U.K. started giving a screening test for TRALI antibodies to female platelet and plasma donors who had ever been pregnant, before they would be considered eligible to donate platelets or plasma. They'd repeat the test after any subsequent pregnancy.
TRALI is not an issue for blood, platelet, and plasma from male donors, or from female donors who have never been pregnant. And it's not an issue for blood donations from female donors.
Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) is a rare and life-threatening condition that can affect recipients of donated platelets and plasma.
Medical studies found that TRALI could result when the antibodies responsible for TRALI are present in donated plasma, including the plasma that comes with platelets, from female donors who had been pregnant. Antibodies for TRALI pose no risk to the donor, only to the recipient.
In about 2009, many donation centers in the U.S. and U.K. started giving a screening test for TRALI antibodies to female platelet and plasma donors who had ever been pregnant, before they would be considered eligible to donate platelets or plasma. They'd repeat the test after any subsequent pregnancy.
TRALI is not an issue for blood, platelet, and plasma from male donors, or from female donors who have never been pregnant. And it's not an issue for blood donations from female donors.
Finally, someone explained why we lost all of my clinic's female donors around 2015. All we knew, as donors, was that if a female ever got pregnant, they produced antibodies that caused reactions in a small minority of patients. It's a condition called Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI).
128 (a nice power of two) is a great milestone. Congratulations!
