What the Boss Likes – Donate blood, not just during emergencies

The US experienced a bombing again.  Bombings don’t often happen in the US, but they do happen with some regularity.  Some of our legislators are far too stupid to actually remember the instances but they do happen (there are smart people in Texas, unfortunately the willfully ignorant ones often drown them out).  They also usually happen thanks to our own home-grown lunatics just like in other countries that have to experience such tragedies.  That’s my guess (and it is only a guess) here, that the bomber(s) were domestic, the usual cowards like Timothy McVeigh, etc that are afraid of what American really stands for: freedom and democracy. (Seems that I was wrong per the lastest news.  One can find cowards anywhere).

Of course, people now are running about, needing to feel like they are doing something. The American Red Cross says it has enough money and blood now, thank you very much.  I’m sure that there will be various charities that open up because of this tragedy. Although there are plenty of people who just want to help, we also always have people who glom on to “fame”.  “Looky me, I donated to *the* disaster.” 

I find it vastly annoying that it takes some awful event to get people to do things like this.  My first blood donation was back in high school.  A student, screwing around on a cliff without safety gear, fell very badly.  He survived for a while, was life-flighted to a level 1 trauma center where they used a lot of blood trying to save him. Blood is expensive to get and maintain so the community tried to help the family replace the blood used (incidentally, the student was the son of a preacher, another unfortunate example of how prayer doesn’t work).  

It’s not as if there isn’t *always* a need for blood and money to help in disasters, be they small or large.  You might not have extra money but many people can give blood and it just takes a little of your time. Yes, there is a large needle and some people don’t like needles, including my husband.  He donates too. Just tell the phlebotomist that you are scared of needles and they’ll do all they can to help. O Negative people are needed most since they are the universal donor.  Their blood can be pumped in without having to take time to type someone who is dying.  

I give blood every time I can (usually every 8 weeks but sometimes I’m deferred longer for not having enough iron) and have donated gallons so far.  The last time I gave, they had a sign up that said that our local level one trauma center had used 25 units(usually a pint, a little less than half a liter) for two trauma victims in *one* day.  The human body has about 6 quarts (12 pints) or 5.6 liters of blood. Did a lot of that probably end up on the floor of the ER or in the suction machine?  Most likely, but they were lucky they had it to use.  

Donate blood if you can to whatever entity takes care of that in your country.  It’s up to us humans to give modern medicine, developed by the scientific method, all the help it can get. 

And get your CPR/AED certification too. I know how to do it but my cert is long expired.  I’d best get on that.

Postscript- very good story in the NYT about the voluteers and medical professionals who responded.

Postscript 2: Secular folks who have set up ways to help the victims in Boston: http://freethoughtblogs.com/entequilaesverdad/2013/04/16/atheists-giving-aid-accepting-donations-for-boston/