As part of ✓ Project Bucket List, I decided that I’d like to donate blood. I’d signed up for it back in 2018 and never actually followed through, despite the emails telling me that they were looking for donors near my old address. I don’t really need to go into detail on why donating blood is a good thing, we all know that it’s used to help people in dire circumstances, and that the more people who donate, the more likely we are to save lives. And despite this, so few of us actually decide to go ahead and donate.
If you’re in the UK and you’re interested, it takes 5 minutes to sign up to donate blood, max – then it takes an hour to actually donate. It’s all really comfortable, they’ll ask you a few medical questions then have you drink some cold water. Then, they get you to go through your questions with a nurse, who will answer any questions you have. Then, they’ll call you over to a bed where you’ll get comfy and they’ll run through a few checks.
I takes about 15 minutes once you’ve entered the doors to when they actually take blood. They slip a needle in and to be honest, it doesn’t actually feel like much. The process takes 8-10 minutes, but in my case it took 6 minutes, which means I’m really good at bleeding, I’d make a great victim in a horror movie!
Then, the machine will beep once you’re all done, and you head over to the snack area where you have another drink of water and eat something. Nobody tells you this, but you only have to stay there until you know you’re going to be feeling fine, so some people took 5 minutes, others half an hour.
All around you as you’re donating blood, people are chatting to each other and taking it easy. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere. In the corner, there were a few people donating plasma, which takes a lot longer – something to do with cycling, but I’m not a doctor so I don’t know.
Something else worth noting is that after giving blood, you feel a little lightheaded, which reminds me of getting high. I sat in the car afterwards for 10 minutes having just the loveliest time. I do not suggest donating blood as a recreational high.
As I spoke to the nurse, she told me that one of the biggest problems they have is getting people to come back. People seem to donate once, get it out of their system that they’ve done some good, and then never do it again once they get asked to come back. Funnily enough, I’ve found the exact same in my case. I’ve not been reminded to come back, admittedly, but I’ve not felt the draw to go out of my way myself. I wonder what the NHS would need to do to draw in donors for second visits?
I suppose by highlighting how their blood was used, what it did to help somebody would be a great start, this wasn’t information I received. Additionally, sharing case studies or examples of people who needed blood donations and happy stories about feeling good for having donated could all be quick easy ways to just remind donors “hey, come back!”