HOW TO LOSE A DONOR IN 10 DAYS…read more
Step 1: call them incessantly at all hours, asking for blood
Step 2: entice them with free swag until they finally relent
Step 3: scar them for life
I've been skeptical about donating blood, as the last time I donated back in 2013ish (with Heartland Blood Center) the apheresis/platelet machine went haywire and the vein in my arm swelled up to the size of a golf ball, after which I went into full-on shock. It was not a good time.
Fast forward ten years later, and the mental trauma has subsided enough to the point where I feel comfortable donating a unit of whole red blood to someone who could really use it. Vitalant pestered me for MONTHS before I agreed to come in. They sent me numerous text reminders as well as a couple phone calls.
I arrived on-time for my appointment on 3/5/24 at this Naperville location, which is right next to a huge Menards. Shortly after, one of the staff took me into a side room where they did the finger prick to test iron levels. It was a much rougher 'punch' than I recalled from the past, and more painful too.
They guided me to a donation chair and I started to get settled in. "I've done this dozens of times before", I said to myself, trying to ignore the splatter of dried blood I could clearly see underneath the counter (someone didn't do a thorough job of cleaning). Arm cuff goes on, needle goes in, juices start flowing.....
AND THEN DISASTER STRUCK. The phlebotomist--who was already rushing in a way that made me uneasy--quickly spun around to get something, and the tube carrying blood from my vein got stuck on her scrubs/lanyard/body. The needle got ripped out of my arm and went flying, while my ruby red blood spurted out onto the floor, the table, and a few other places.
Processing what had just happened, I looked down at my left arm and went "oh....that's.....not cool". Within seconds, I began feeling those lovely symptoms of shock: cold, clammy and ashen skin, sweaty palms, nausea, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, the works. Luckily I'd experienced this before (in a donation chair, no less) but that did little to calm my nerves.
As I laid there trying to keep my sh*t together and not pass out, the phlebotomist apologized and started mopping up the crimson bodily fluids that never reached their destination. She gave me some H20, a cool compress and a salty snack, which slowly brought the color back to my face. I sincerely hope they filled out an incident report, but for all I know they'll opt to sweep this under the rug.
If you can believe it, at some point that b*tch tried to gaslight me by saying "well you already looked a little pale when you came in", uh NO, that's my normal skin color. I'm white as a ghost because I'm in utter and literal shock at YOUR lack of professionalism, not because I haven't gone tanning in a while. The hell??
* TL;DR *
I gave Vitalant one chance and they blew it, oh man did they f*cking blow it.
No grilling kit, Amazon gift card or limited edition platelet bobblehead is going to convince me to donate with Vitalant EVER again. I'm looking at another 3-5 year hiatus until I'm comfortable enough to donate blood with anyone, anywhere, and I will actively discourage people from donating with Vitalant.
Let me be clear: the phlebotomist was completely at fault, and even though it was a freak accident, IT WAS 100% AVOIDABLE. She wasn't taking her time, and consequently a donor (me!) was injured. Rushing leads to mistakes, and that's precisely what happened. Were it a small clerical error, that'd be one thing, but this involved a needle in my arm.
There's an old saying that goes fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice? Nah, ain't gonna happen. The next time Vitalant calls me (and rest assured, they will), I'll regale them with this story and instruct them to put me on the do-not-call-me-ever-again list.
What a nightmare! GAH!