Give Blood, Drink Pepsi: Donating blood in Jamaica

I gave blood today, and it was fun!

Pretty boy jeans on, blackberry in tow, I set off in a good mood with Aunty M. and uncle E. to the blood bank. I agreed to give aunty some of my blood for her upcoming surgery in case she might need it.

It started off as a sobering drive to the blood bank, thinking how they always complain of having too little donors each year to meet the demand for blood in the hospitals. I felt a little bit guilty for never once considering to donate some of my own. I am young and healthy, and can more than do without a pint(not sure of the actual unit) of my awesome juice. I would make it back in about 7 days anyways. And all those little kids in car accidents each year, the young men my age getting shot lawfully and unlawfully. All those people that could've made it, If I bothered to care.

But alas, here I was, on the beckoning of my favourite aunt, I was giving blood (fake excitement)!

The Procedure

It took a while to actually give the blood. I had to get registered and and tested: blood type test, blood pressure, and some very simple questions about my medical history (non very intrusive). The more thorough tests for diseases and such would come after the procedure.

There was a bunch of us there, a squadron of really cool guys! This made the trip all worth it. We had to wait for quite a while to get processed, so I started chatting with the guys in the waiting area, nothing better to do man. I looked over to this one guy and asked "So, u're a soldier", he replied shaking his head "no", "a police then", still no, but you're close he said, "I'm a security guard".

I swear to you, this man needs to be a soldier. He doesnt even need training he's got the cliche solider look and everything if there ever was one. Everyone agreed they thought he was a soldier or something, lol. He said he was there to give blood for his pregnant girlfriend. Suddenly, 4 other guys chimed in, "yes, me too!". That was a special moment for me, as baby motherless as I am. Here were all these young men, roughly 27 years of age average, donating blood for their soon to be borned children. They all looked like it would be their first kid too, and it was. Some had already chosen names, had delivery dates moved up, and were making the final preparations to welcome their newly borned ones into this world. I felt rather proud of them. These must be the good fathers we never hear about.

Chatting with the guys made the wait pleasant and bearable. We were all visibly nervous of the impending needle that would zap our super powers as we sat and watched other guys being drained of theirs.

Ouch!

Then my big moment came, I was called to "jump up" unto the reclining bed/chair thingy and relax, so much for the relax part I couldnt keep my feet still! lol. The lab guy took my hand and wrapped a band around my upper arm tightly, then rubbed atleast two different kinds of liquids right below my bicep. I though "I should probably look away right now", but then quickly quipped "Nah, you come this far and now you want to miss half the experience?!", So I took a big deep breath and watched as pierced my bulging vein with the needle. That's it? Really? Wow, that wasn't so bad. Ok, cool. He gave me a little ball to squeeze. Now that was a whole lot more work than I bargained for, your hand grows tired fairly quickly squeezing a little ball while giving blood. All in all, that was done in about 8 minutes. I felt a little discomfort through it all, but I feel much more pain from a game of football every week. That was waaaay easier than I thought. They made me rest for another 15 minutes or so before getting up.

Then yes, I got pepsi! @Sunshine1010 had joked the morning about me getting pepsi to drink. And I thought, you know that's a great ad campaign, why not "Give Blood, Drink Pepsi!", brilliant!

Anyways, I encourage you guys to go and give some blood when you can. You get a free blood test and you're doing something nice for someone else! Pay it forward!

I will be back there I think, this time with a lot more confidence and hopefully not because someone I know needs the blood I'm giving.

PS.: I didnt get to check-in on @foursquare or tweet while there because my BB ran out of blood :-(, there were no BB donors!

PPS: My blood type is actually O positive, the most common type. I had made a joke about B Negative, yes it was just a joke. Sorry @e2k11

Where to find the blood bank?

The item marked (A) is the correct location of the blood bank.

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