02 September,2009 06:57 AM IST | | Swathi Narayan
Swathi Narayan shares her experience of battling gender issues over donating blood at a hospital
There was an emergency at work today. Someone was in need of B+ve blood group and since that is my blood group I decided to donate. This was the first time ever that I was going to donate blood. I was excited quite.
I've always wanted to donate blood. When I was trying my hand at the sciences, in my first year of college that I eventually dropped out of to do journalism, I had an opportunity (or so I thought) to donate blood.
Somebody rushed into our classroom and said B+ve was required urgently. In a class full of about 50 students, I was one of the few who raised their hands. But, strangely, I was dismissed for being a girl. Apparently they didn't want girl donors. I've always wondered why that was.
Coming back to today's episode I went along with a colleague to St John's Hospital to do the thing I've always wanted to. I was determined. I was ready. On reaching the place, i finally found the blood bank among all the mask clad patients and staff alike. And, guess what, yet again, I was dismissed for being a girl. They said 'only males.' It was getting ridiculous. I decided to find out why.u00a0
u00a0I asked why women couldn't donate blood. "It takes longer to take blood from a lady and it's a long process. A woman's veins are very weak and hence it takes longer to draw blood," says the nurse. Though not convinced at all, I accepted it. My colleague and I went out for lunch and all the while I was brooding over the fact that I couldn't donate my sanguine fluid!
As we walked back to the blood bank another idea hit me. I would donate blood voluntarily. Just go up to them and say I wish to donate my blood. And so I went up to the blood bank and tried to register. They checked my weight and said they would first need to screen my blood. Two attendants, I'm not sure if they were interns or assistants or even doctors for that matter, came to draw my blood, and quite literally! They fussed over me with a piece of cotton and tried to locate my vein. I'll give it to you, I'm on the heavier side, but I do have a vein! The first girl pricked me with a needle to draw my blood. She moved it around and around but couldn't locate my vein. Finally, she gave up and took the needle out of my arm. The second girl stepped in and with some difficulty she withdrew the syringe full of my blood. It was sent off to get screened and in the meanwhile, the girl who succeeded in extracting my blood asked me some 'routine' questions. "Are you single or married? How old are you? Are you on any medication right now? Have you consumed alcohol recently?" To the lastu00a0 question I replied, "a week ago." Instead of moving on with the procedure, she wanted to know why I consumed alcohol. To my knowledge hospitals don't take the blood of someone who's had it in the last 24 hours.
Would she have asked me why I had alcohol last week if I weren't a girl? She also told me that if my hemoglobin content was less than 12.5, I couldn't donate blood.
When the results did come out, it turned out that my HB content was indeed less than 12.5 and so I couldn't donate. I bade my colleague goodbye and walked out of the hospital feeling a little blue and seeing a lot of red.
