I’m not going to defend their decisions about who gets deferred and who doesn’t, but they usually aren’t the only game in town. Is there a nearby University that does medical research in your area? I started at Stanford University Blood Bank and only switched to Red Cross when I moved out of California.
I wondered what the numbers are - it will presumably be lower today, but in 1999 when they introduced the restriction (at which time it was certainly warranted given our ignorance of the disease) the Red Cross estimated 2.2% of the U.S. blood supply.
FDA bans blood donation by people who have lived in UK - PMC
The restrictions on blood donation come from the FDA, they’re not set by individual blood collection services. So there’s no point in trying elsewhere. Contrariwise, there’s not much point bemoaning not being allowed to donate even though there’s a shortage - the FDA moves slowly in relaxing blood donation restrictions. Especially for ones that have a very small impact on the overall blood supply, like the UK residence one.
Highlighting stupid policies is not something we should be doing? I am not personally offended.
I didn’t mean to imply that the phlebotomists were volunteers. I think at my blood bank they are professionals who make their livings this way. But much of the other staff seems to be unpaid volunteers, and wears badges identifying themselves that way. It has always struck me, because the place looks like it is just brimming with money, what with the real estate and the building (soaring vaulted ceilings with skylights and little ponds and planter boxes in the atriums). And I believe all of the donors are unpaid volunteers.
Admittedly, I’m the public, so from my point of view their whole approach seems to be very public facing. But when I go to a lab or the nearest hospital for my blood draws, it looks like there’s a huge operation behind the scenes, and the only investment for their public facing operation (what the restaurant industry calls “the front of the house”) is a begrudging one for crummy waiting rooms with a crummy service window.
Donating blood is like visiting Longwood Gardens, and giving a lab sample is like buying grass seed at Home Depot. I know lots of people volunteer at Longwood Gardens, and I bet nobody ever volunteered at Home Depot.
A little browsing indicates that this is very much the rule and not the exception:
“Doctors recommend patients have routine blood tests at a diagnostic testing center at least once a year […] If you’re over 40 or have a chronic illness, you should get tested more often.”
https://gwinnetturgentcare.com/how-often-you-need-to-get-your-blood-test-done
“Overall, nearly 60% of blood donations come from people over 40 — and nearly 45% come from people older than 50”