Bloody Good!
September 20, 2007
Gossamer Threads is now a member of ‘Partners for Life’ through the Canadian Blood Services, a program set up for corporate and community organizations to donate blood as a team. Each year, we commit to donating a pre-determined number of units, with each donation made by a staff member counting towards our company’s total. This past Wednesday was our first group visit to one of the clinics set up throughout the city!
Three first-timers where amongst us: Jack, Bao, & Nick. Jack was particularly nervous about the procedure, and requested a special escort (to be booked at the same time as) two veteran ‘bleeders’, Tarrin (5 previous donations) & Adrian (3 previous donations). Aki, having returned from his early morning appointment, told poor Bao several fabricated horror stories about his experience. With Bao’s face drained of blood from this encounter, assurances and handholding were required to get him back on track. Aki was soundly beaten for rattling a newbie.
Jack, having just finished the bleeding portion of the evening, chatting up a nurse.
Ian, trying to look oh-so-casual (He appeared pretty worried only moments before)
While waiting out our mandatory 5 minutes in the juice and cookies waiting area, Adrian and I learned some interesting information from the volunteer there. Apparently, British Columbia doesn’t receive sufficient donations for our population’s needs, necessitating importing blood from other Provinces (at present, Quebec). This information definitely fired us up to really make a go with this program! We met a woman there who is closing in on 100 donations - quite an accomplishment, considering that the minimum interval between donations is 56 days!
Tarrin REALLY likes free goodies!
Choosy programmers choose apple juice!
In the weird and slightly creepy category, we were told that occasionally people will ask to be given a small vial of their own blood. In such cases, the nurses will tell them, “Sorry, no take-out!”
Back at the office, participants compared notes, with particular interest paid to the number of minutes each needed to fill the 1 Litre bag. Nick, probable possessor of miniature veins, required a full 12 minutes to do the deed, while Rick’s jumbo veins needed only 5 minutes and 53 seconds.
All in all, a great experience was had and for a great cause too. Support your local blood clinic!
Tags: Blood donation, Company Life, team
