MoldovAnn

I gave blood today! In honor of World Blood Donor Day (June 14), the United Nations in Ukraine organized a blood drive at a Kyiv hospital.

I love giving blood. It’s such a simple thing to do, and yet is so important and valuable. In the U.S., I gave blood fairly regularly, 2-3 times a year. I have an America Red Cross Volunteer Blood Donor Card, which documents my donations in 2003 and 2004. I still carry the card with me, mostly because it lists my blood type on it, and I was excited to get to add another date today. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the last time I gave blood in Columbus was June 5, 2004 - so it’s been exactly 4 years since my last donation! The nurses were really impressed with my “fancy” blood donor card, which I guess they don’t have here in Ukraine. They proudly told me about the special recognition given to people who donate 40 times, though.

The whole experience was pretty much like in the US, although a lot faster. Some questionnaires and numerous forms to be signed, as in the US. I was surprised only by the question of how much blood I wanted to donate - 250 milliliters, 350 ml, or 450 ml. I don’t remember what the standard donation is in the US, but I opted for 350 ml today. The nurse pricked my finger and did a blood type test (they had to confirm it themselves). Then I had a cup of juice and a roll before giving blood - in the US we always got our snack only after giving blood.

Finally I was ready to start bleeding. I was led into a small room with two tables arranged end to end along a glass wall with small open windows mid-way up. I laid down on one table and stuck my arm through the window, and the nurse on the other side of the wall began to prep my arm. Kind of a strange arrangement, it seemed to me. I always liked to watch the progress of the bag filling up with blood, but with this set-up I couldn’t see the bag at all so had no sense of my progress. I was quite surprised when the nurse announced I was done after about 5 or 7 minutes. My blood had always flowed slowly when I gave in the US and it always seemed to take me a long time to fill my bag. Maybe they took a larger amount in the US? Or maybe my blood was just being speedy today.

A nurse tied a hell of a tourniquet/bandage on my arm, and held on to me as I sat up and then stood up to make sure I wasn’t faint. I felt fine, and she led me back out to the reception area, where another nurse gave me a bag of “souvenirs”, as she called it. A box of juice and a chocolate bar!

My Ukrainian colleagues were very interested to know how this experience compared to giving blood in the US. Several of them were first time blood donors, and we talked about how it’s not so common to do in Ukraine as in the US. I was impressed to learn that Ukrainian legislation allows for a person to take 2 days off from work after giving blood, as a measure to encourage more blood donation. 2 days seems a bit excessive to me, but it’s a great idea to give someone a half- for full day off as an incentive. I was skeptical whether bosses and companies would really follow the policy, though, but my colleagues said they know companies that really do give the 2 days off. Pretty cool.

It’s so easy to give blood. I encourage everyone to check with their local Red Cross or hospital to find out where they can donate.

Here’s me and my colleague Anna, 350 ml of blood lighter.

Check out the UN photo gallery and photos, and more photos here.