Australia severely lacking blood; if you are over 16, please consider donating

[ninwa]

If you give plasma they let you take home pretty much whatever food you like.
My dad rocks up with like 4 packets of those Zippy's chocolate milk in juice boxes and 4 packets of fruit cake slices.
Too bad they dont give those hard lollies anymore. Those blue ones were really really nice!!

They have someone standing in the kitchen at the centre I go to so you're pretty much shamed into not taking too much food

That said we still have those blue hard lollies at my centre. I'll sell them to you for $5 each

[nemolala]

you can't give if you're anaemic?

[ShortBlackChick]

If you give plasma they let you take home pretty much whatever food you like.
My dad rocks up with like 4 packets of those Zippy's chocolate milk in juice boxes and 4 packets of fruit cake slices.
Too bad they dont give those hard lollies anymore. Those blue ones were really really nice!!

They have someone standing in the kitchen at the centre I go to so you're pretty much shamed into not taking too much food

That said we still have those blue hard lollies at my centre. I'll sell them to you for $5 each

LOL I wouldnt be surprised if my dad uses the 'I have kids, they like this shit,' excuse for taking so much food.
Oh man, $5 bucks?? Nah, I'm a curry, I'm too cheap for that. How about I put on some weight, then I'll drive down to your centre and I'll give blood and then take home the whole basket of lollies

[Toothpaste]

you can't give if you're anaemic?

I've been told by my doctor that I can't. Makes sense, why would you take blood from a person lacking in proper blood?
It would be like a poor homeless guy donating his last remaining clothes to charity. /extreme

[ninwa]

bump

[nisha]

I've heard you get a free muffin afterwards:)

[Reckoner]

Just found out I can't donate blood, due to mad-cow disease restrictions Was born in England in '94, and stayed for 2 years.

[CaiTheHuman]

I cant donate blood due to my fear of noodles. Dam anxiety.

[nemolala]

@stephan: *needles??

I can't either, it turns out that I'm severely anaemic

[CaiTheHuman]

@stephan: *needles??

I can't either, it turns out that I'm severely anaemic

I didnt realize my typoo LOL.
 Cant you like take alot of iron supplements then donate ?.

[ninwa]

I was banned from donating for 6 months because my haemoglobin (??) levels were too low. So I started taking multivitamins and making sure to eat before each donation. I dunno, worked for me

[nisha]

There seems to be a lot of negativity regarding this topic (regardless of reason), so I'M GONNA PUT MY HAND UP FOR DONATING BLOOD!

[Stick]

Our school actually encourages us to donate blood, so the past few years a blood van has come to our school to collect it. Unfortunately, I have not been eligible for it yet (you need to be 16 at the time of the donation and I turned 16 a few days after our school's blood van visit), but it will be something I will do in the future.

[shinny]

@stephan: *needles??

I can't either, it turns out that I'm severely anaemic

I didnt realize my typoo LOL.
 Cant you like take alot of iron supplements then donate ?.

There's reasons other than iron deficiency for anaemia, although it is the most common one. Despite that, purely taking iron supplements won't immediately raise your haemoglobin - which is the measure by which they define anaemia. Haemoglobin has to still be made from the iron you take in, so binging on iron won't really do anything as the body still has to produce haemoglobin. Last problem is that the body actually has practically no method to excrete iron, and excess supplementation is incredibly dangerous as it damages several vital organs, particularly the liver. Best to see a doctor first to see if iron's needed, and then stick strictly to the dosage given.

[rolftina]

I've been donating regularly since I was 16.
This old dude opposite me once got baked a cake by the nurses there cause apparently it was his 500th donation or something?
Well that's gonna be me lol

But yeah anyway heaps of my friends I think are like 'offended' by some of the restrictions Red Cross apparently has on donors...
I think it's like if you're gay you can't or something like that? Potential risk of HIV or something?

I've heard that there's been petitions against it and everything.
Like "We WANT to help but nooo we're not allowed to."

Yeah idk...
:/