Give Blood
 

I give blood about twice a year. It is virtually painless and obviously is needed by society. I have had no ill effects from giving. I urge those of you who are able to give blood in the near future.

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Re: Give Blood
 

1) Give blood.
2) ???
3) Profit?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

1) Sell blood.
2) ???
3) Profit.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Give Blood
 

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I give blood about twice a year. It is virtually painless and obviously is needed by society. I have had no ill effects from giving. I urge those of you who are able to give blood in the near future.

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QFT. You can give 4 times a year if you want to. If you ask nice, you can get a beer afterwards (at least in Denmark [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

Re: Give Blood
 

It's my blood so I'm gonna keep it. If they give me a price I may ponder.

Re: Give Blood
 

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It's my blood so I'm gonna keep it. If they give me a price I may ponder.

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And when that blood of yours is spilling out by the quarts after being in a car accident, are you going to wish everyone was like you, or that there are some good-hearted generous people that gave blood to save your life?

Re: Give Blood
 

I don't give blood, but that's because I have an intense phobia of needles. Intense like, I cried every time I got a shot up until I was 14. Having said that, If I was ever in an accident and needed a blood transfusion, but for some reason wasn't able to get it because of people like myself, i'd be cool with that. I'd be pissed if I couldn't get it because people just didn't want to give it because they're not getting paid, or because they just don't feel like it though.

Actually, on second thought, it would be fairly easy for me to give blood. I would just need to faint before they actually stick the needle in me, and that doesn't really sound that hard to me. Well I guess i'll sign up with my mom next time and see how that works.

Re: Give Blood
 

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It's my blood so I'm gonna keep it. If they give me a price I may ponder.

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This is not only dumb, it's also stupid. You can't even call it selfish. Giving blood costs you nothing other than time (and that should be less than a 1/2 hour). If you are healthy, your body will replace it quickly and you could be saving the lives of several other people with each donation.

Here in New York, I know that you can donate once every 56 days. I try to make sure I get in at least four times per year.

Re: Give Blood
 

In the US, you can give every 56 days. I also encourage anyone who isn't afraid of needles, is straight, and hasn't lived in England for more than a few months to give blood.

Re: Give Blood
 

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I don't give blood, but that's because I have an intense phobia of needles.

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Solution: lay on the table and look the other way. If you don't see the needle, it is not there.

Re: Give Blood
 

The nurses that take the blood are pretty good at it. Also, I guarantee that there will be at least one hottie, either a nurse or another donator. You can use this to get over your needle phobia. Just relax.

Re: Give Blood
 

guys it's not that easy with needle phobias. i dislike, but it's not a phobia. a friend of mine however actually has this phobia and it's freaking crazy. he starts shaking like 5 minutes before he has to go in and stuff like that. i remember in highschool we had to get a few vaccines and he just couldnt, he had to go afterwards at the hospital a being a bit sedated. phobias are serious business!

Re: Give Blood
 

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It's my blood so I'm gonna keep it. If they give me a price I may ponder.

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And when that blood of yours is spilling out by the quarts after being in a car accident, are you going to wish everyone was like you, or that there are some good-hearted generous people that gave blood to save your life?

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I'm going to wish that an efficient and fair market for blood was set up so there would never be a shortage. Blood is obviously a valuable commodity, it is insane to just give it away.

Re: Give Blood
 

I fully support giving blood and do at least once a year, but this has me feeling not so good about it.

The Blood Brokers-How the Gift of Life Became a Billion Dollar Business

Interesting read, although it doesn't dissuade me from giving, because in the end, lives are still being saved by people donating blood.

Also,

Tax Credits for Blood?



For those that have the time, ask your local blood bank/drive about donating plasma or other processes they have that take a little more time, but are often more helpful than full blood donations.

Re: Give Blood
 

There are certainly people that have serious issues with needles, heights, open spaces, etc. that require psychiatric intervention -- but most people who claim to have "phobias" are just uncomfortable with needles (or whatever they claim to fear).

And if you can force yourself to do the right thing, you get free orange juice and cookies!

Re: Give Blood
 

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It's my blood so I'm gonna keep it. If they give me a price I may ponder.

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This is not only dumb, it's also stupid. You can't even call it selfish. Giving blood costs you nothing other than time (and that should be less than a 1/2 hour). If you are healthy, your body will replace it quickly and you could be saving the lives of several other people with each donation.

Here in New York, I know that you can donate once every 56 days. I try to make sure I get in at least four times per year.

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I can't excersise for a couple of days without feeling like I'm climbing Everest. I feel weak and tired after giving blood. Giving the blood is uncomfortable, stressful, and disconcerting, and can be slightly painful. It clearly costs more than just time. I think 50 dollars is more than fair compensation for this ordeal, and would only add a small amount to the cost to the comsumer of the blood. It may even lower the cost of blood, since there wouldn't be a shortage anymore.

Giving blood for free is a scam that I am surprised that contributers to a poker forum would participate in.

Re: Give Blood
 

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Giving blood for free is a scam that I am surprised that contributers to a poker forum would participate in.

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I assume you don't give to charity either (those damn scams give me nothing back). Also, you should probably put a sticker on the back of your driver's license (or wear one of those tags) refusing all blood transfusions unless the donor was adequately compensated for his donation. That will show them!

Most blood centers are non-profit organizations -- they operate as a charity and provide a public service. Give to a reputable non-profit blood center just like you would give only to a reputable charity.

Re: Give Blood
 

TMTTR -- I do give to charity. But, unlike feeding the poor, there is no reason why blood banking should be a charitable enterprise. Blood is a commodity, and the free market would insure that there is always a good system for blood banking; the free market will let the homeless starve.

Re: Give Blood
 

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I can't excersise for a couple of days without feeling like I'm climbing Everest. I feel weak and tired after giving blood. Giving the blood is uncomfortable, stressful, and disconcerting, and can be slightly painful.

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1. It is charity. Are you serious with this?

2. Unlike charities like fighting hunger in Africa, this is one that could benefit you, if you were in a car accident today. So its not even pure charity, unless you're fine completely mooching off the blood supply, but not giving back.

3. You can't work out for three days? I usually take that day off and am fine the next day for working out. Stop being so overdramatic. You miss one day of pilates to potentially save a life.

4. uncomfortable? you sit there for 15 minutes on a padded bed and then get fed juice and cookies.

stressful? how so? unless you are deathly afraid of needles, then its literally just laying still for 15 minutes.

disconcerting? I don't think you even know what this word means, so I won't bother addressing this one.

slightly painful? its a single prick and then mild discomfort at best. stop being a huge vagina.


Besides, you can have them send you a card in the mail that has your name and blood type on it. I sure as hell keep that right in my wallet in case I'm ever in need of blood so they can know right away what my blood type is. Pretty nice to have.

Re: Give Blood
 

Noah -- For me, giving blood is disconcerting because it just seems so unnatural to have a pint of this vital stuff drained out of me. As far as uncomfortable goes, I generally get cold, dizzy, weak in the knees, and the last time I gave, nauseous. It seems that "slightly painful" and "mild discomfort" are synomonous. Working out the same day is clearly out, and I notice a significant decrease in my stamina the next day. I'm a runner, so this is easy for me to quantify.

And as far as the charity argument, I can see no compelling reason why blood banking should be a charitable enterprise. Why do you think it should be a charitable cause?

Re: Give Blood
 

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I give blood about twice a year. It is virtually painless and obviously is needed by society. I have had no ill effects from giving. I urge those of you who are able to give blood in the near future.

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I don't want to sound like a little girl, but needles make me squirm a bit. I refuse to get flu shots too.

Re: Give Blood
 

i have never donated blood, but i think i should start doing it. i don't see any reason not to.

Re: Give Blood
 

in his defense, as a runner giving blood screws you up pretty badly. I gave once in h.s. over spring break and I couldnt run practice for two days without getting dizzy in the warmup. Then I had a meet 3 days later and ran a 5:40 mile (bad time)and felt like I was going to pass out and ran poorly in two other events. So if someone is actively running I do think its hard to give and I've said no when they have called to give for that reason.

Re: Give Blood
 

I donate blood all the time, but the economist in me tells me that a price ceiling of 0 means people supply less blood than is needed for use in ERs and ORs.

The humanitarian, beneficial thing to do is to make a market for blood, and put in some restrictions so that people cannot donate more blood than is medically detrimental to them. Then the medically more useful blood types such as O- will be donated in a larger proportion than its overall prevalence in the population.

Re: Give Blood
 

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it just seems so unnatural to have a pint of this vital stuff drained out of me.

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Another faulty premise -- blood, as a whole, is vital. one pint of your blood is not vital, is easily replaced, and can save the lives of others.

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And as far as the charity argument, I can see no compelling reason why blood banking should be a charitable enterprise. Why do you think it should be a charitable cause?

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Contrary to an earlier assertion (not sure if it was you or someone else), blood is not a commodity. The typing of blood has become very sophisticated. While certain blood types are common, there is a need for many rarer types. If we were to make a market in blood, it would mean that patients would need to pay and less common blood types would become more expensive. It would increase the costs on an already overpriced healthcare system.

Your argument is similar to the argument for buying and selling organs (and I will let someone else expound on the implied ethical issues here).

Re: Give Blood
 

runner,

You have certainly made the case for not giving blood during the days prior to a competition or a scheduled event. It is not an excuse for a healthy person not to give blood at a time when their schedule can accomodate it.

Re: Give Blood
 

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I donate blood all the time, but the economist in me tells me that a price ceiling of 0 means people supply less blood than is needed for use in ERs and ORs.

The humanitarian, beneficial thing to do is to make a market for blood, and put in some restrictions so that people cannot donate more blood than is medically detrimental to them. Then the medically more useful blood types such as O- will be donated in a larger proportion than its overall prevalence in the population.

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Obviously. Let people pay for organs too and we could really start saving some lives.

Re: Give Blood
 

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Noah -- For me, giving blood is disconcerting because it just seems so unnatural to have a pint of this vital stuff drained out of me. As far as uncomfortable goes, I generally get cold, dizzy, weak in the knees, and the last time I gave, nauseous. It seems that "slightly painful" and "mild discomfort" are synomonous. Working out the same day is clearly out, and I notice a significant decrease in my stamina the next day. I'm a runner, so this is easy for me to quantify.

And as far as the charity argument, I can see of no compelling reason why blood banking should be a charitable enterprise. Why do you think it should be a charitable cause?

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For me, giving blood is as disconcerting as getting a haircut or clipping my fingernails. OMG cutting off a part of my body! Of course blood is just a little more vital than hair, but its not like some voodoo black magic, you know it will be replenished, so its not like donating an organ. I guess people can feel differently on this point.

I guess you are sacrificing more than 20 minutes if you can't run the next day, but why not plan a donation for a day before a "rest day" in your workout, workout in the morning, give blood in afternoon, next day is your scheduled rest day, and by the third day you should be pretty much back to normal. I've decided to not give before because it was finals and I needed to study or I had a basketball game that night, but you can make it work.


As for why giving blood shouldn't become an economic venture, I recognize that there are plenty of arguments on your side of it. I even agree with a lot of them, and could probably be tipped in favor of agreeing with you. Obviously I would never donate to a for-profit blood bank, because if someone is gonna get rich off my blood it should be me. As for non-profits though, giving blood helps keep costs down, and if blood became a marketable commodity, I'm sure there'd be no shortage of college students to make a quick buck (and hey it brings down your tolerance for drinking that night!), so if anything the supply might go up, which I agree is a very strong argument in favor of your side. This would also result in the cost of blood and the cost of healthcare going up, and where else is there a renewable resource that we can give that helps keep costs down for victims of long-term diseases or traumatic events.

Either way, I think you are using the same argument as someone who doesn't vote because he doesn't like the system.

Yes, perhaps there is a better way, but in the system we currently have, giving blood is a good and generous thing.

Re: Give Blood
 

If you're worried about certain blood types being more valuable than others, this can be fixed by simply passing a law saying that there can be one price for selling all types of blood, and one price for buying all types of blood.

Re: Give Blood
 

final point to add to running, giving blood for a serious runner/athlete will affect you for more than a week in my opinion.

Re: Give Blood
 

Noah -- Giving blood is a "good and generous thing," and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I do think that the "nonprofit" blood banking industry is a lot more for-profit than a lot of people think. Once the Red Cross takes your blood, who the heck knows where it will end up. And there are billions of dollars in blood banking, and I just think it is faintly ridiculous that the people giving the blood are not compensated at all. If the whole industry was nonprofit that would be one thing, but it's just not, and never will be.

Re: Give Blood
 

Geez, I can't believe this is turning into a monetary discussion. Unlike donating money, everyone has the ability (barring fear of needles or other medical reasons) to donate blood. It does not take a long time. You get free snacks and drinks. I agree there is often a hot nurse. And yes, you can feel good about helping out others in a time of need.

Please, let's not make everyone in the world about money.

Re: Give Blood
 

Plus, one time, in college, the hot nurse was leaning over me and when she jabbed the needle in, my arm reflexed up and I cupped her boob.

I then later went out to the bar and still had the band-aid on . A girl approached me and asked if I had given blood, which sparked conversation, and at the end of the night we had sex.


So to conclude my argument, I gave up 25 minutes of my time and:

1. Cupped hot nurse's breast.

2. Had some delicious cookies and juice.

3. Saved money at bar since I drank less that night.

4. Conversation starter that led to sex.

5. Found out my blood type and got a card that I keep in my wallet to inform someone in case of emergency.



I think the choice here is clear.

Re: Give Blood
 

I'd also like to encourage everyone to sign up for the bone marrow registry. Of course, this is a much, much bigger decision than giving some blood - because if you are a match for a recipient, you will be asked to undergo a pretty serious operation. But you have the potential to actually save someone's life in the most literal sense. And no - there will be no compensation other than knowing that you alone helped someone live. If that's not motivation enough, I don't know what is.

Re: Give Blood
 

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I'd also like to encourage everyone to sign up for the bone marrow registry. Of course, this is a much, much bigger decision than giving some blood - because if you are a match for a recipient, you will be asked to undergo a pretty serious operation. But you have the potential to actually save someone's life in the most literal sense. And no - there will be no compensation other than knowing that you alone helped someone live. If that's not motivation enough, I don't know what is.

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it obviously isn't motivation enough. it can be empirically confirmed that there is a shortage of bone marrow as well as other tissues, organs, etc.

real humanitarians would be campaigning for a free market, or at least a regulated market for blood/organs/tissues which would greatly increase their supply.

Re: Give Blood
 

Who would pay for the organ? Poor people would get the shaft.

Re: Give Blood
 

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I fully support giving blood and do at least once a year, but this has me feeling not so good about it.

The Blood Brokers-How the Gift of Life Became a Billion Dollar Business

Interesting read, although it doesn't dissuade me from giving, because in the end, lives are still being saved by people donating blood.

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That was an interesting read and may explain the relentless telemarketing I get from my local blood bank.

I'm an irregular donator who gives maybe once a year. For the past six months or so, the blood bank has aggressively campaigned to get me in more often. They normally call twice a day. Some days they call as often as four times. (I know this due to caller ID.) I've asked them to stop, a request which they blow off.

While I don't normally answer when they call, the call volume has become quite a nuisance. Without exaggeration, I imagine they've called my house roughly 400 times in the previous six months. The few times I've answered (to beg them to stop calling) the caller makes every attempt to schedule me. I imagine the callers are getting spiffed or compensated somehow for appointments made.

In short, donating blood is a good thing, but dealing with the blood bank has become a burden.

Re: Give Blood
 

Wow, couldn't even imagine getting paid for donating blood, but I guess it's because our healthcare system is paid for in the extreme taxes, so free for all. The blood banks are non-profit, lead by the state hospitals.

There'd definately be more donors if it was paid for. But for those arguing for a free market: Getting paid for donating, would also lead to paying for a transfusion. With the social security system in the US, wouldn't it lead to some critically traumatized people not getting transfusion, because they don't have health insurance?'

Funny that so many here seems to be afraid of needles. Beside my study, I work with taking blood samples (not for blood banks, but blood analyses of hospitalized people). It's especially men between 20-40 that are afraid of the needle - come on, look at it:

http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~mjl359/the...s/bloodarm.jpg

Re: Give Blood
 

I am pleased that there are more than a few responses.

Part of the reason that the free market can not apply to body parts or fluids is that then there would be incentives for all sorts of problematic scenarios, such as:

1. You lie about your risk factors and the costs of testing the blood increases. I was going to list others, but I can't think of any, but this is a big factor.

Anyway, I do it for altruistic reasons alone. That is good enough for me.

Ultimately, synthetic blood will eliminate the industry in the next decade.

Re: Give Blood
 

From the american red cross:
Why doesn't the Red Cross pay its blood donors to increase the blood supply?
Scientific data shows that people who donate blood for altruistic reasons are the safest blood donors. As an extra layer of safety to the blood supply, Red Cross accepts only volunteer blood donors.

Re: Give Blood
 

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From the american red cross:
Why doesn't the Red Cross pay its blood donors to increase the blood supply?
Scientific data shows that people who donate blood for altruistic reasons are the safest blood donors. As an extra layer of safety to the blood supply, Red Cross accepts only volunteer blood donors.

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LOL

a free market would be safer, save more lives, and be more beneficial to the poor. i don't want to hijack this post. but if you are interested in the subject look up REAL literature (peer reviewed scholarly sources) on the matter.