by Nadine Odo

Created on: November 16, 2008   Last Updated: January 01, 2009

Why don't more people give blood? The top reason is probably an irrational fear of needles. It's bad enough to get a vaccination, much less have a large-gauge needle stuck in your arm and watch as your life's blood is slowly drained into a bag, right?

Just thinking about it makes me queasy, and that leads to another reason, the fear of embarrassment from fainting right in front of the nurse. It has been my long-standing personal fear that I would syncope right as the needle entered the vein. Even though at one time I had worked as a communications specialist in a blood bank, and part of my job was to urge others to "give the gift of life," I couldn't bring myself to do this, not even once.

Yet another reason is that people feel they are too busy to spent an hour or so at a blood bank. Of course, you're in the chair for just 15 minutes or so, but before you donate, you receive a mini-physical and answer a few questions. After you donate, you'll sit in another area, and have a bit to eat and drink before you're on your way.

Donors tend to be older, and one line of thinking is that older people belong to a generation of Americans who are more in tune with doing good. For the rest of us, we need more than the knowledge that each blood donation can help up to three patients, perhaps a mother who is rushed to surgery after suffering injuries from a car accident, a young boy with sickle cell anemia who needs transfusions to prevent pain crises, or an older gentleman receiving transfusions as part of his cancer therapy. (See the Blood Bank of Hawaii website for more.)

The rest of us would like some sort of answer to, "What's in it for me?" Here are four. First, you'll get a free mini-physical, which includes a blood pressure check and blood test. This could alert you to possible medical concerns. Second, you'll get something to drink and eat after you donate. Depending on whether there is a special event going on, you may even score a T-shirt. Some businesses used to give employees a day off if they donated, but I don't know if any organization does that anymore. Third, if you happen to have a little too much iron in your blood, you may actually feel better after giving a pint of your iron-rich blood. And fourth, you'll be doing something very important that too few people are willing to do. Another part of my job at the blood bank was to thank donors when they reached certain milestones. I was truly amazed by the men and women who donated 100 or more pints and acted as if they hadn't done anything at all special.

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