Give 'Til It Hurts

Normally I donate blood at our local Long Island Blood Services office -- on a Saturday morning I make an 8:00 appointment and I'm outta there in 45 minutes, one pint low. But I do try to patronize the PTA drives in our school district, particularly when one of the kids is looking for signups. Last night I had a 5:30 appointment at one of the elementary schools, timed so I could leave work at 4:30 and arrive in plenty of time.

I arrived 15 minutes early and was heartened at what I saw. About eight people waiting for medical, with three people on duty there. Only a handful of people waiting to go behind the curtain. This looked vastly better than last year, when the entire experience took me two and a half hours, start to finish. If not for my commitment to the schools, I wouldn't have returned this time. So I was glad I gave it another try.

After a little less than half an hour, I was through medical. There were ten people waiting to be drawn at that point. Let's just say it was a good thing I had my crocheting bag. Over the next 45 minutes, only three donors were taken behind the curtain. During this time the elementary school "little doctors" had come around asking for signups for the March 29 drive at the high school. I was hesitant but I wrote my name down as a maybe.

By the time I was called to go in, it was 7:00. I got a very personable phlebotomist named JoAnna, who apologized for the delay and was willing to explain to me how the staffing for the drives is determined. She suggested that the administration inflate the prearranged donor count (appointments made in advance) by a certain percentage (based on past turnout) so that LIBS staffs the drive appropriately to cover walk-ins in addition to appointments. She also said that quite a few of the donors are nasty when they have to wait a long time. Now I admit that part of me had certainly been annoyed to have to wait a while, but I tried to keep my evil twin locked up. The conversation with JoAnna, had while she was prepping me for the venipuncture, helped to melt away my frustration. And it caused me to reflect upon the fact that the frustration, shared by many donors, can overshadow the whole point of having a blood drive -- giving something back to the community.

After making it through a short stay at the canteen -- and I can't recall the last time I'd had yummy Sun Chips before that -- I stopped at the check-in desk to speak with the PTA representatives on site. I mentioned that this had been my "second chance" with the school blood drive experience and last time I was promised a shorter wait this time...but it's hard to go home and have much of your evening left when you're there for two hours and ten minutes after your appointment, and you've got to eat dinner before you can do anything else. I tried to be constructive, passing on the recommendation from the chat with JoAnna, pitching it in the context that I'd seen several donors decide not to stay because they were unable or unwilling to wait it out.

Luckily the PTA reps were also aware of everything that had gone on, and had their eyes on the overarching goal -- to get the donations while keeping good will alive. They'd already been talking about how to create a better flow during the high school drive in March. As they are also volunteers who chose to staff the event that night instead of being home with their families -- as well as the time it took to plan and recruit -- I thanked them for their efforts. In turn, they thanked me for mine.

I left with a smile on my face, and a Pollyanna kind of hope that my appointment in March doesn't turn out to be another frustration. After downing two bottles of water, I treated myself to a rare decadence on the way home: a McDonald's cheeseburger, onions only, via the drive through. That was about all I could fit, after the Sun Chips, the water, and the taste test of pecans and cashews at canteen with a gal from a local chocolate company. Buuuuuurp.