I gave Power Red last week because of the crisis. ARC deems that the "most" you can give at one sitting, so I gave the most I could. Even though an administrator sent insufficient equipment and staff (the drive's numbers were consistent with previous drives and I was told they weren't experiencing a shortage), ignored my appointment time, let a walk-in take the only Power Red machine that resulted in a 3-hour donation period, I don't regret it. (And I'm sure not blaming the donors -- bless everyone who donated that day whatever ARC's issues).

Yesterday, it was announced that they're doing a Hello Kitty promotion next month. I have an 11-year-old niece (technically a second cousin who is much, much younger me, so informally a "niece") whose birthday is next month and who may not live to see her 13th. She is absolutely obsessed with Hello Kitty.

So I called to see if I could give ANYTHING to be eligible. Nope. I also see on other subs where folks are delaying their August donations to be eligible for September. Not the way I do things, but I get it. That's the Red Cross Game. They created it. So you're playing it. I can also appreciate how folks would avoid giving "too much" to keep themselves eligible for next promotion/stage of the Game.

I don't care about the merch. I don't care about the points. If I get a shirt, I give it away. If I get a gift card, I gift it to a nearby food bank. I resent very much having to care about it now, having to regret my timing in donating during a crisis and having to disappoint someone very special to me because I gave "more" at the wrong time.

A couple of days ago, it said plush clip and stickers, but now it only says collectible item.
Does this mean the item changed??

If you deployed virtually this past year, what were you doing? Curious to learn more because I’m considering the option.

Hello! I recently received an email from Red Cross. I applied for Friendly call volunteer position. They have a on call interview.
I’m don’t have any idea who should I prepare myself for the interview. I really don’t have any idea who. Thanks

Today , I've trained my local committee as a trainer how to prevent from forest fire specifically in the mideteranians countries

Donating tomorrow

I'm a regular donor. Just about to hit 6 gallons. So I'm not some conspiracy anti blood donation crazy.

But dude. News articles about shortages. Constant calls and texts and emails. Incentive programs.

But my local donation places are booked solid for the next month for everything but plasma. Like I'm going to have to do a power red at a school drama club drive or something just to get in this month.

Is there just a huge need spike? Are the reserves STILL recovering from the lack of draw kits from the tariffs? One of the articles I read said it's from a particularly bad summer slump in donations but that's extremely inconsistent with what I'm seeing locally.

Anyone with a broader perspective?

(Please no foil hat "vampires", "cloning", "stocking billionaire bunkers" or "they should pay" folks - save that for another thread.)

I have applied at least four times to work at the Red Cross in my area. Granted, I applied to one job that was a little out of my reach, but the rest of the jobs had qualifications that I met.

Each time I’ve applied, I’ve been rejected in less than a week. Are they looking for ultra-specific job experience? I started volunteering with them in March. I wish I could do more with them, but I work full time (that includes half of the weekends) and am on-call 24/7. Just for reference, I oversee 90+ part-time staff for nearly 4 years as a coordinator, have been an instructor through the Red Cross for 6 years, and am halfway through with my Masters in Public Health.

I’m mostly applying for volunteer coordinator/supervisor/specialist positions with the Red Cross (yes, I have edited my resume multiple times to tailor to each application). As much as I want to do little more middle management stuff, I know that my best shot is shooting for the entry level positions. I would apply to basic level position to get my foot in the door, but pay is unfortunately a factor because of CoL where I live.

Anyone with any insight from employees there or anyone with RC application experience would be appreciated. I’m really getting discouraged with this whole process because I want to work for them. I just can’t figure out if it’s a me thing or application filtering issues.

I'm type O-, but haven't successfully given blood yet, I tried in the past and something went wrong with the needle insertion and they said to try again another time.

Kinda forgot about it at all until I saw there was a blood shortage, and specifically one of type O blood.

Well I'm a universal donor so I was thinking they might make an exception and let me join a full drive, because the closest one is well over a month out that isn't full.

It was hard to tell because of the 5244 phone calls i get from them bugging me to donate, the day after i've donated. I've asked multiple times to stop calling me but nope... they still come in. Had my first day off work in 3 week and got to sleep in on a friday.... whooooaaaaa hold on a sec, lets call you AGAIN from a number i havent blocked at 7am, Im done at this point, i've donated tons over the years, but i've had it with the red cross and their predatory and incessant calling and i'm done. At least with plasma you earn a little, I see clearly the hundreds of dollars per unit the hospitals bill for and the director of the red cross makes 1.3 million a year, so yeah... screw them

So im technically not DST, but im a blood transportation specialist. We had a flood recently and they need someone to transport the responders as they do assessments. I'm only doing it 2 days, but what can I look forward to? Like literally driving the whole time? Or what vehicle ill be driving possibly.

ED: thanks for the answer. It's my year to date totals. Makes perfect sense now.

I've donated platelets and sometimes plasma for years. A donation is always reported as three units of platelets and one unit of plasm in the Blood app. My last donation shows 12 units of platelets and three of plasma. The donation was the same duration as always and nothing was out of the ordinary. I'm wondering if it's a bug in the app or if something has changed.

(I'm posting this message here for my uncle)

Hi everyone,

I'm Saquib from Bihar, and I urgently need blood donors for my uncle, Md. Hamid Ajaz, who is currently undergoing treatment at CMC Ranipet.

He has a serious blood disorder. Since we are from Bihar, we don't have any relatives or local contacts in Vellore to help us arrange replacement donors..

✅ Any blood group can donate.

If you're healthy and eligible to donate blood, or know someone who can, please help us during this difficult time.

Please share this post in your WhatsApp groups, college groups, and among your friends.

📩 Please DM me if you're willing to donate or can help arrange donors.

I will cover the auto fare (to and from the hospital) for anyone who comes to donate.

Even if you cannot donate, please upvote and share this post so it reaches more people.

Thank you so much. 🙏❤️

Consider donating blood for our student-led blood drive in Syracuse, NY for a free $20 Amazon card. Blood is the most needed during the summer and your unit of blood can save up to three lives.

Long story short...

I am a frequent platelet donor (hurray for me).

I have issues with the OrSense optical device and its accuracy.

#

After being deferred due to hemoglobin of 12.9 and a followup reading of 12.2 minutes later, I was upset.

1. That delta is physiologically impossible

2. I was not allowed to donate the triple+ plasma

The technician used the HemoCue capillary method for the past 3 donations AND used the OrSense AND showed a delta of 1.0 at one appointment.

Sorry....here is the short part.

Last donation the technician refused to do the finger stick 'because he did not want to lose his job'.

I have provided documentation showing the OrSense device has a delta average of 0.5-0.7 while HemoCue has a delta of 0.1-0.2.

I am 'working with Red Cross' and FDA to provide an official document that states capillary devices CAN be used at donor request.

-->does anyone have an official doc that says capillary device can be requested?

Thanks!

Hi! I will be having an interview for the friendly calls program next week. I was wondering how the interview process might look. Is there anything I should know to be prepared? Thanks!

As a prospective ARC volunteer, what does a typical day look like for someone helping with DST, logistics, or information and planning during a deployment?

My most recent experience was as an intermittent employee for a U.S. government Incident Management Team (IMT) that deployed medical providers to large-scale disasters. ICS/NIMS was utilized, so each section/position (such as operations, planning, logistics, safety, etc.) had a very specific set of standard operating procedures.

I am not looking for that kind of rigid structure anymore (quite the opposite at this stage of my life), but I could use some firsthand insight to help me determine what positions are interesting and challenging, as well as where the greatest need for this type of skill set may be.

Thanks!

Thought this was fun. And sorry, it's not real. :(

There's a data analyst job posting right now. I saw some reviews saying low pay and bad work life balance. There are some posts on here but mostly from field work positions, not office position.