Paid to give blood?

[Deleted]

Or bribe?

My wife and I regularly donate blood every 60 days or so, but yesterday she got a mail from the New York Blood Center.

My wife is O positive making her "so special" per the letter. Anyway it states:

Make two whole blood donations or one automated red cell donation (Alyx) from June 1 throu September 30, 2011 and we'll thank you with 500 bonus Donor Advantage points or two tickets to see the New York Mets at Citi Field in 2011.

Would this encourage you to give blood quicker if you were 0 positive? My wife doesn't care for baseball (neither do I) and we don't know what the 500 bonus Donor Advantage entails, but still...

Is giving away bonus/tickets a new way to get people to give blood? Is the demand so high?

[illinicheme]

I haven't paid much attention, but I'm pretty sure gifts for giving blood are pretty common. Usually it's more like a gym bag or a fleece jacket, but it seems like tickets are a pretty cheap way to try and encourage people to go through the hassle of donating.

ETA: I'd like to donate blood regularly, but unfortunately I'm one of the folks who nearly passes out each time. There's a good 45+ min period after I give blood that is just terrible. Plus the needle leaves a scar on my arm, so I've concluded that giving blood is not for me. I try to give back to the community in other ways.

[Deleted]

Mets tickets!?

The Mets are probably just trying to give away their tickets to anyone who will take them.

[pig]

I'm O + and I do not donate blood. I like it where it is thank you.

[kent]

I would flat out reject any type of "reward" for giving blood. In my opinion it's something you should do if at all possible.

I am not allowed to give blood at the present time but should be able to in about two years and will do so.

[Deleted]

I always wondered why they didn't pay for blood. They pay for plasma.

[Angel!]

O positive isn't really that special, not rare at all. But, it does make for a good donor because 85% of people in the US can accept that blood type. The only better donor type would be O negative & that is fairly rare.

They are probably in short supply of blood right now & that is why they are offering the incentives.

[Taxman10]

May 27, 2011 10:47:28 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I always wondered why they didn't pay for blood. They pay for plasma.

Yes, they do :-)

But usually for-profit companies pay for it, then sell the plasma to labs.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I am forbidden from donating. I lived in the UK during the mad cow years. Though I never ate British beef, they don't want to take the chance.

...:::"My wife is O positive making her "so special" per the letter.":::...

Great, an ego boost :/

...:::"and we don't know what the 500 bonus Donor Advantage entails, but still...":::...

Probably enough for a wristband, or maybe a 10c discount on a movie ticket.

...:::"or two tickets to see the New York Mets at Citi Field in 2011":::...

My grandfather, as a rule, only roots for the Mets when they play the Knicks.

[Deleted]

I get deferred for a year every time I go to India. I wasn't able to donate for 3 years, and finally made it last February- just before another trip to India.

This past week we had a drive at work and I'm back at it again. I've been blessed with ridiculously good health and it's a way to share what I've been given. And no, I don't need baseball tickets, incentive points or cold cash. What drives my decision about when and where to give is convenience. Fortunately, my company has on-site blood drives and there's a collection center so close to our house I can bicycle there. I just can't tell the staff there that that's how I'm getting home!

[Deleted]

While in the military, i became a regular donor

I used to carry a red cross card that kept track of the amounts....

I crossed the 5 gallon mark....and they gave me a very nice windbreaker

But....been to a few countries now where they put you on the "unable" to give list

Blessed with good health....and great veins

[steph08]

I used to give when I was younger because the weight limit was lower, but they raised it to 110 and I don't meet it. My mom gives pretty religiously though she hasn't mentioned going in a while.

[dancinmama]

The last time I gave blood was prior to my son's open heart surgery. It was back in the days when you wanted to know who your blood was coming from and we were the same blood type. It made me SICK AS A DOG because I did not meet the weight requirement for giving blood.

I don't think Mets tickets would encourage me to do it again.

[Anne_in_VA]

I'm one of those who cannot give blood, but DH does all the time as well as giving platelets (I think that's what he said). The Red Cross even sends him reminders of when it's time to do it again. They always give him a pair of flip-flops as well as a oven mitt or T-Shirt too. I don't need any more flip-flops, mitts or t-shirts.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

After a certain amount of visits to my local blood center a couple of years back, they gave me a free T shirt.

In large letters over the boob area: "I Gave a Gallon."

This is the Dairy State.

I never wore it.

[Taxman10]

May 27, 2011 12:28:36 GMT -5 LlamaLlamaDuck said:

After a certain amount of visits to my local blood center a couple of years back, they gave me a free T shirt.

In large letters over the boob area: "I Gave a Gallon."

This is the Dairy State.

I never wore it.

LOL

[Firebird]

I tried to give blood twice - the first time I failed (I started passing out and the nurses stopped the donation), but the second time it went fine. Now I'm going to do it as often as possible. I don't need any inducement.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2011 12:28:36 GMT -5 LlamaLlamaDuck said:

After a certain amount of visits to my local blood center a couple of years back, they gave me a free T shirt.

In large letters over the boob area: "I Gave a Gallon."

This is the Dairy State.

I never wore it.

I donated milk. Over six gallons!

[Deleted]

May 27, 2011 12:35:23 GMT -5 Firebird said:

I tried to give blood twice - the first time I failed (I started passing out and the nurses stopped the donation), but the second time it went fine.

Make sure you have a hearty meal beforehand. That helps me. I was once weak enough that they started waving smelling salts around my nose before I learned that trick. Our local blood bank now hands you a bottle of water while you're waiting and they tell you to finish it if possible before you donate.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

i've graduated from whole blood to platelets.

As in, "The platelet is here, put her in a room." This involves drawing the whole blood, sending it through a centrifuge machine that separates the plasma and platelets out of it, mixes the remainder with saline and shoots it back in.

Cycle repeats many times over about 1.5 hours or so. When the saline mix goes back in, it's a couple degrees cooler than your body temperature. Interesting sensation as the cooled blood hits your brain. They wrap you in blankets, give you heat packs and let you watch movies. You get extra V-8 too.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

MinnesotaPaintedLady, you wan' my T Shirt?

[Deleted]

May 27, 2011 12:46:06 GMT -5 LlamaLlamaDuck said:

MinnesotaPaintedLady, you wan' my T Shirt?

No thanks. They already gave me a bag that I won't carry.

[Firebird]

Make sure you have a hearty meal beforehand. That helps me. I was once weak enough that they started waving smelling salts around my nose before I learned that trick. Our local blood bank now hands you a bottle of water while you're waiting and they tell you to finish it if possible before you donate.

That was definitely the problem. I learned my lesson the second time - I had two hearty meals beforehand

I overestimated my abilities the first time. I've never even gotten faint before that.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

No thanks. They already gave me a bag that I won't carry.

Shaped like an udder?

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

This message has been deleted.

[cronewitch]

I used to sell blood or donate blood depending where I was. Chicago paid 35 for negative and 25 for positive in the early 70s. That was a lot of money you could buy about 15 tanks of gas. We were driving from Alaska to Florida but stopped in Chicago just to sell blood.

My cousin has hemophilia so I want to donate before I was old enough, they charged for his blood unless people donated for him. Nobody in our family could donate, his mom and mine were underweight, dad had surgery and his dad had malaria in WWII and the rest were too young. He used a lot of blood before they invented infusions of blood products.

Our Seattle blood banks didn't pay but you could make a donation for yourself to store your own blood or get credits for future needs or give to individuals besides straight donations.

I got a couple of pints once and my cousin and his nephew have used many gallons of blood so I am fine with giving back without rewards, but now I can't.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2011 13:01:32 GMT -5 LlamaLlamaDuck said:

No thanks. They already gave me a bag that I won't carry.

Shaped like an udder?

No. It just had their logo(not boobs) and INTERNATIONAL BREASTMILK PROJECT in huge letters on the side. I think I've gotten enough grief over the years for being large large breasted to not want to be seen lugging that around.

[TD2K]

I never got anything for donating in Canada or the US except for cookies and something to drink after. In Saudi, they would pay you about $150 to donate when I was with Aramco so that was nice.

I hit the 100 donation mark this year. Just donated last week.

Yes, be sure to have something to eat a couple of hours before donating and try to drink more water prior to donating. If I don't, it makes it harder for them to find a vein though they are pretty good at finding those suckers.

O postive and A positive are the two most common US groups at about 35% each

LOL MPL.

[Poppet]

I've donated blood twice. I am type B+ so I am not super speshul or anything.
You get in their system and they'll call you and call you and call you and call you and call,call, call.
The techs at my red cross aren't friendly. They're like automatons. So that and that yucky medical like setting (needles, green disposable gowns, the smell of alcohol, bags of blood, and personal questions 'bout my sex life) and I am not going unless they upgrade their refreshments.

[Deleted]

May 28, 2011 12:20:22 GMT -5 Poppet said:

You get in their system and they'll call you and call you and call you and call you and call,call, call.

Telling them you just got back from India will put them off for a year, while still allowing for the possibility of your return if they improve the experience! Do think about finding a user-friendly blood bank, though. They can't make blood in the labs- it takes humans and because of all the restrictions, not everyone can donate.