American Red Cross — Local services in Farmington

Should be no stars. Saw news article about desperate need for blood so went to website and made an appointment at the nearest blood drive. It's 20 minutes away so I ensured I was there at least 10 minutes early. None of my information was at the blood drive so wasted time inputting that for the appointment. Spent 10 minutes or so giving my personal information as their driver's license scanner wasn't functioning properly so all info had to be input manually. Once done with that I was told to have a seat. Waited another 45 minutes before I was called to screener. Once again, none of my information is in the computer so the screener had to input it again. Now we take blood pressure. 1st reading is high so she asks to try other arm. Same result - too high. She asks if I have blood pressure issues - I do not. Just saw my GP and Endocrinologist in the past 30 days and both pressure readings were in the 120/80-ish range. I tell her I do sometimes have issues with erroneous readings due to a too small cuff. Yale Hospital discovered that the last time i was there. Same issue as at the blood drive - high readings in both arms until they tried a larger cuff then my usual readings came through. She tells me this is the only cuff we have and it fits you fine. So thanks American Red Cross - make me wait 45 minutes PAST my appointment time only to be told I can't donate. A complete waste of almost 2 hours. And maybe you should look into why donors put their info into a website for an appointment yet none of the info flows to the donation center??? One more suggestion - maybe get donors to the screener as soon as they check in to ensure they don't sit there for almost an hour out of their work day only to be told they can't donate. I know my blood pressure wasn't high when I got there but it sure was high after spending an hour in round trip commute time and an hour at the blood drive for nothing....

My daughter and I drove 2 hours to Farmington to donate platelets. It takes about 3 hours to donate. The Interview and vital signs, getting you set up in the chair. The Donation and aftercare. Bring headphones and music or an audiobook. They have TV with headphones at each station. Platelet donation uses both your arms. So once you started you can't move your arms until you're done. The staff was very helpful in everything, from changing the volume of my audiobook to getting me a warm blanket, and frequently asking if you need any assistance. You need to squeeze a ball every 10 seconds or so on the line, taking the blood out. You dont need to do anything on the filtered incoming line. You get cold donating platelets, so you may wish another blanket across your shoulders. The staff were great sticks. I have very faint marks from the needles the next day. Plenty of parking. The donation center was easy to find. We had a 20-minute wait going in, but that was the day Microsoft update crashed 1/2 the planets computers, so it was understandable. You get plenty of snacks and drinks prior to leaving....

Building very clean. Staff is more friendly than you could expect, and extremely respectful. Went in for my first platelet donation. And it was an excellent experience. (Side note, if you go to donate platelets, make sure to do your best to empty your bladder right before you lay down in the chair. You will be in the chair for about 3 hours and there is no pause option on the donation once it starts. I couldnt hold it any longer after a little over 2 hours but Lisa and Liam were very compassionate and moved quick to wrap up my donation and get me to the restroom just in the nick of time. Good news is even though I wasnt able to give the "full" donation, they assured me that I had already given more than enough plasma to make it a useable donation. I know better now for the next time.) More should donate platelets and blood. Patients get something they desperately need, the donor gets a gift card and t-shirt, and everyone is happy. Call it a "win-win-grin". (Red cross can have that phrase to pass to their marketing department, maybe they can make a fun...