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September 2, 2009
Filed under Blogs

“Congratulations, you’re our last.”

No, I did not find the golden ticket and show up late to the ceremony, I in fact donated blood at the Vernon Newsom memorial blood drive today. Being new to the donation experience, I was amazed at how fast it seemed to go by. After answering questions such as “Were you ever inside a juvenile detention facility in the last twelve months for longer that 72 hours?” and “Have you ever been to Africa?” I was cleared to donate blood.

After rubbing my arm with iodine, which in my opinion looked more like a brown crayola marker exploded on my arm, I was told to expect a slight sting. It felt more like when you get a paper cut but more focused in one spot. After that I was told to hold onto a stress handle and squeeze every five seconds.

While I waited I observed how they pack the blood for transportation. First they place styrofoam into a cardboard box, then they put ice down at the bottom of the bag. Then they lay a plastic bag holding all of the individual bags of blood into the box, on top of this they place more ice and the top of the styrofoam container. Finally they put packaging material on top of the package and close the box.

The attendant, Laura was her name, caught my attention again. “That’s it, now put pressure on this.” And I watched her disassemble the needle and blood pouch for transportation. I walked out and back to fourth block while the last two in the other donor van await to find out if they were viable donors. 21 people, maybe 23, donated blood in remembrance of Vernon Newsom and I’m proud to say I was one of them.