Something Different

This was me in 2005 when I discovered a paid plasma donor facility in Tulsa. Gerry was waiting in the car, not prepared to get out and worried that I might not come back! I was amazed that people were queueing to give blood. I called in to see what was going on and realised they were paid for the donation; $25 for the plasma. That meant that they take their blood, spin it in a centrifuge, and then return the red cells to the recipient. Keeping the plasma. You get twice as much than the amount of plasma from a whole blood donation because the recipient can make up the plasma volume quite quickly compared to the loss from a whole blood donation. Paid plasma donations are pretty controversial stuff, but that's a very long story. Money changing hands for a body fluids doesn't seem clever to me and once money is involved in a process (any process) it always brings added complications. Blood supplies in Scotland are all from volunteer donors but what about blood products? well they can be manufactured from paid donors and Scotland now buys in its blood products instead of making them here.


I only came across this photo today whilst taking a wee rest from planting in the woodland. I don't miss my old job other than the some of the people who are special to me. They know who they are.