That's about how it seems, if you are talking about the American Red Cross Blood Services in northern Florida...
Okay, so maybe I was a little spoiled in North Carolina. Having three donation centers open five or six days a week within 30 minutes drive is a bit of a luxury.
But, one center, open one day every other month? Give me a break!
But yes, that's what the situation is in Jacksonville. The center is open for donations on the first Monday of every other month. Sure, they have a bloodmobile and associated blood drives at various other sporadic locations and dates throughout the month, but, the operative words are various and sporadic. Makes it kinda tough to adhere to that five or six donations a year goal given my work schedule.
Another big surprise was how the medical questionnaire was handled. In North Carolina, the ARC makes a BIG deal about donor confidentiality. They give you a private area to fill out the medical form, and they even have white noise generators in the interview rooms. In Jacksonville, the staff member asked each question out loud and we had to give the answers out loud. We were in an interview room, so it wasn't like we were doing this out in the open, but it did feel weird. Not that there are any answers that Jeanie or I are embarrassed about, but it is a very different experience.
On the plus side, for Jeanie and me at least, there was no line when we showed up yesterday at around 5:00 PM, and there were three friendly staff members to attend to us. And yes, Jeanie did also give a pint of her precious life juice. This was to be a big donation for me - my 40th pint - five gallons. When I saw how empty they were, and thought about them only being open once every other month, I figured - if I was lucky - they might offer to mail me my five gallon pin. But given their seemly lack of focus on blood services, I figured even that might be a stretch. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when they actually had one last five gallon pin left on site! We even both got T-shirts.
Looking forward, the big decision is going to be if we stick with the Red Cross, or if we will switch teams and start donating at the Florida Georgia Blood Alliance. They have seven centers open five or six days a week within thirty (or so) minutes drive. FGBA has been serving the Jacksonville area for over 60 years and appears to be very community focused. ARC is relatively new to this area (to my utter amazement) and is trying to get a toe-hold in this area. ARC is a good organization that does a lot of good for a lot of people, and I do have a long history with them. On the other hand, there is something to be said for convenience if that becomes the difference between a donation and no donation. Oh well, I guess I've got eight weeks to think about it...
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Posted by David at August 02, 2005 07:44 PM