When it comes to a few things, I’m not a very picky guy.
I enjoy pizza either in plain cheese form or loaded sky-high with toppings. When it comes to my love for automobiles, I can appreciate a car with fine lines regardless of the origin of make or model. Even down to my music choices as of late, I don’t discriminate between Marvin Gaye, The Misfits or Armin Van Buuren; just let the track play and the grooving commence. But when it comes to the wide world of Hematology (the overall study of blood), blood type is something where a certain sense of fastidiousness is definitely needed!
Overall, there are eight different blood types: A+, A-, B+, B-, O+, O-, AB+, and finally AB-. Blood type is something almost like your eye or hair color. You quite literally inherit that type genetically from your parents. Blood type is something that is crucial in medical emergencies and other situations, due to the fact that administering the wrong type of blood during a transfusion can result in uncompromising effects on the immune system. Knowing your blood type isn’t only extremely helpful for medical reasons alone, but as a blood donor you will know if it would be more helpful for you to do a whole blood donation or possibly an apheresis style donation.
Let’s take a quick glance at a few cases where blood type matters!
- Soldiers on the battlefield have their blood type labeled on their identification tags.
I was watching an interesting show on the Science Channel called Oddities. It’s a show about an oddball and, dare I say, avant-garde kind of shop that specializes in all sorts of weird and interesting, time-period-specific collectables that you wouldn’t normally see in most antique shops. In this episode particularly, there was an artist interested in purchasing a blood transfusion kit from World War I. Whenever a solider was injured to the point that they needed to receive a blood transfusion, they could quickly identify the type needed and perform the transfusion – literally straight from the donating soldier into whoever would be receiving it! A lot of donors I talk to while on the phones at Incept, usually donate while out and about. But talk about donating on the go!
- Different ethnic cultures have varying percentages of certain blood types.
Depending on where you are from or what your cultural background is can have a lot to do with your blood type, believe it or not. 
Blood centers and blood banks during times of shortages will even gently request that people of certain ethnicity donate in order to stabilize supplies of specific blood types. In America, Caucasian donors make up the highest percent of donors with A+, while Hispanic donors usually make up the highest percent of O+ type donors. People of Asian dexcent have the highest percentage of B+ blood donors.
- What does it mean to be a Universal Donor or Universal Recipient?
You might know or have heard that the blood type O- is the type of blood that, regardless of the type of blood the recipient has, can be accepted by everyone during a transfusion therefore, making them the universal donors of donating. When it comes to individuals who have AB blood types, they are the only ones able to receive transfusions of AB blood successfully, yet can still receive all other blood types making them the only universal recipients. The deciding factor: antigens (anything capable of inducing a reaction to our immune systems), which are proteins found on our red cells tissue and membranes. Really it’s the kind of antigens (if you have any even) and antibodies in your plasma that will determine which blood type you can receive.
We’ve just scratched the surface of this topic, since Hematology is quite an intensive field of study in medicine. Regardless, what other cases can you think of in which blood type matters?
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While out scouring the airwaves and surfing the dialer board for blood donors – as not just a blood donor recruiter, but a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) at Incept - one of the things I learned very quickly about donating blood was how it can save the lives of up to three people. At the very least, a unit of blood is enough to make the lives of three people who need it more comfortable.
Whenever I try to describe the amount of blood taken during a simple whole blood donation, I often compare it to a small juice box or carton of chocolate milk. I say that because, when first time donors think of giving blood, usually I can hear the apprehension in their voices as they give the impression that they are visualizing an enormous amount of blood is going to be taken. In reality, like I said above, it is just 500 milliliters of blood or, for comparison, just about the size of a small box of juice.
What is stopping you from donating?
Even though donating blood can consist of taking time out of a day off from work, donating blood between classes, driving to the donor center and many other small steps before an actual donation takes place, the thing that last on beyond all those steps is the fact that someone is being helped as a final result of all the efforts made.
A whole blood donation is quite possibly one of the easiest blood donations one can do. It is called a whole blood donation because every part of the blood is taken and nothing is initially divided or separated during the donation process, you literally are donating it in whole form. When it comes to red cells from that donation, those can go to help people who are going through surgeries or victims of trauma situations, as a red blood cell’s main function is to transport oxygen from the lungs to cells all throughout our bodies via our blood stream. The plasma that is donated can also go to a wide variety of patient needs. Plasma-derived therapies create treatments for a range of rare and oftentimes genetic-based diseases, including hemophilia, primary immunodeficiency, and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, as well as other medical conditions such as burns and electrical shock. When it comes to platelets, patients who need them most are generally undergoing chemotherapy or an organ transplant and have weakened immune systems and aren’t able to fight the illness as adequately. Platelets‘ (also called white blood cells) main objective is to take out foreign germs, viruses and other infections that can cause sickness. That is why when they receive platelets in the form of therapeutic treatments their lives really are improving because someone donated.
The above are just a few examples of how one simple whole blood donation and a little less than an hour of time can drastically improve the life of someone. When it comes to supporting blood donations I think I’m going to start bringing back the mantra:
If you haven’t donated – or it has been a while – what’s stopping you?
Image Credit: http://bucultureshock.com
Did you know that the United Nations (U.N.) projects a population increase from 6.8 billion people currently living in the world to a whopping 9.2 billion count by the time 2050 rolls around?
What is even more wild is the fact that the United States of America is to gain 117 million countrymen (and countrywomen) to add to its list of 321 million current residents, if the U.N.’s population prediction ends up coming true. When it comes to those involved in securing and supplying blood transfusable products, that can mean many things.
The need for blood only grows.
With the world population rising daily, not to mention the increasing need for blood donations and blood transfusable products, I have watched blood centers and blood bank organizations bend over backwards to keep with current trends and tie it all in with donating.
Social media is a term that I think is thrown around more loosely today than it even was a year ago. Additionally, social media is a phrase used to describe the many different facets and avenues of communicating online in a way that is continuously growing and not just used to share one type of information, but pretty much anything humanly possible. We log in to Facebook to update our status. We tweet from Twitter hoping to make an unknown connection out there with someone who is like-minded in thought. We make YouTube videos in a genuine effort to not only replicate the mainstream media we see, but to literally become the media itself. Blood banks and organizations are hip to the times too. Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is active not only on 
Facebook, but Twitter (@commitforlife) as well. They use both as platforms to not only appreciate their donor base, but to educate, inform and simply stay connected.
I’ve also noticed a big increase in the practicality of donor loyalty programs. Donor loyalty programs aren’t just a way for a donor to earn a t-shirt or shiny pen for donating a gallon anymore. They are a way for a donor to donate blood, earn redeemable points to spend on multiple things – ranging from t-shirts and gift cards to gas cards and cards to other shopping locations. While I do hear a lot of people tell me they don’t donate for points or for rewards, it serves as a nice gesture towards a donor base, and it is one that LifeSource and Central Blood Bank have taken on with great intentions. Both organizations are a part of and support the Brighten Life donor rewards program with regards to their own donor base.
Let me tell you from firsthand experience being a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME), while we know many blood donors do not donate for the reward, it certainly does spike their interest when they know they are eligible to receive a $25 gift card with just one more donation. It is also fun to let loyal donors know they have a huge amount of points they can spend, and hearing their reaction to the news is generally a treat. Most of all, donor loyalty programs keep people interested in not only donating blood, but their personal donation history with an organization. And that is a valued point often missed.
Despite these technological and rewarding trends, the need for human interaction will always be there. That is why Incept really does take its prestige and level of experience within the field of blood donor recruiting extremely seriously. A Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) is more than just your run-of-the-mill telerecruiter. We are not here to sell anyone anything. We are not even here to beg people for blood donations. We are here to make donating blood easy, to inform people who might not know of a blood drive just right down the street from them. Most of all, we are here to strengthen the relationship of the donors on behalf of the clients we serve through high-quality and productive conversations.
We are able to do this because we are people who believe in the good that donating blood can really do in this world. Our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) are blood donors themselves! Telerecruiting is not going away, by any means, but will continue to evolve. Incept and its services will continue to trend throughout the blood bank industry thanks to world-class service and the simple fact that we view ourselves as the human connection between a blood donor and a donation being made. It really is that important.
When it comes to trends in society, what do you think makes a successful trend? Why do you think other trends turn into dying fads?
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I always find it puzzling when people ask me what I do at Incept.
More often than not I feel like I’m a very gray-area kind of guy and I have the ability to change-up my guise depending on if I’m shooting a video, leading a brain storming session in a committee or going back to my roots and recruiting blood donors across America to donate once again. I always mentally refer to my cubical as “the trenches” because quite literally the phone lines can be considered the front lines.
According to the American Red Cross approximately 38,000 units of blood are needed each day and every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. And even more shocking, while less than 38% of the nation is eligible to donate blood, almost 75% of the population will at least need one blood transfusion in their lifetimes. My role as a Conversational Marketing Expert (CME) isn’t just to come into work, mindlessly punch the time clock and then proceed to zombie along in my calls, but I am the proverbial bridge and human connection between blood centers and their valued, voluntary blood donors. It’s crazy because most of the time I am not even in the same state as the person I call, but they will use the word “you” to not only describe who they are talking with, but the organization they have quite literally gave a part of themselves to. That is when you know you are the link between someone thinking about donating and someone actually committing to do it.
My job is not to cleverly persuade people to donate blood like some sly salesman or to persistently plead and beg for them to donate, but to converse with them
to see what I can do to make it as easy and convenient as possible to encourage donors to be continuous lifetime donors. That is what being a Conversational Marketing Expert is all about. Being conversational is really just a small bit of the bigger picture. Anyone can talk, but there is a difference when you can apply your gift of gab in a productive manner. The marketing part really isn’t marketing at all, it is just using information, requests, and things you have heard in your conversations with the donor to tailor not only the conversation you are having with them, but the donor experience as well. Sometimes you can almost hear what a person is saying by listening to what they haven’t said and it takes a very third person mindset to comprehend that while you are actually engaged in a conversation. Finally being an expert really is the bow-tie that holds being a Conversational Marketing Expert together. So you can be conversational and think on your toes, you also can use that quick thinking to make convenient suggestions, but how much of your product or service do you know? For me to be a real Conversational Marketing Expert at Incept, I have to know what I’m talking about and know what impact I can make. That is where being an expert comes in handy. From being at Incept for a year and a half, I not only advocate donating blood and know most current statistics and information on the topic, but even when I’m not working I cannot help, but promote it amongst my own peer’s when the subject comes up.
What it comes down to is, I am someone who believes in what I do. Incept is just the type of company where we all realize our own individual roles make up a greater movement. To me, especially knowing that when I am talking with a blood donor, I’m not asking them to come donate blood, I’m inviting them to save lives in their community. That is something that doesn’t take a phone voice. It doesn’t take overly worked voice inflections either. All it takes is a simple conversation from human-to-human, and I am that connection.
How can having a different perspective on what you do change how you do it?
Photo Credit: http://prometheus.med.utah.edu
“Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” – Dale Carnegie
Stacey stormed down her apartment stairs in a frantic, frenzied matter full of commotion. Reaching into her pocket and quickly pulling out her cell phone, the quick gasp and bewildered look on her face were enough to convey an urgent sense of tardiness. Rushing down the rugged sidewalk towards her car, she started to feel a sense of apprehension about what lay ahead in the next hour or so. But, hastily, she climbed into her hatchback and pressed onwards.
How do you overcome your fear?
Stacey suffers from a phobia but not just any phobia. She has been dealing with Trypanophobia (the fear of pins/needles) for a while now, but was inching closer and closer to fully embracing and conquering her fear. Shots as a kid were always horrible. She even seemed to stare at her own grandmother with cautious perception while she knitted. Whatever the root cause, Stacey was absolutely horrified of needles.
It wasn’t until she saw that her college campus was holding a local blood drive that she decided she had to donate. She ultimately couldn’t keep living in fear of something so small… well, not small to her anyways. You see, Stacey’s mother was recuperating and in remission after an enduring battle with breast cancer. She reminisced about the times where she thought her mother wouldn’t make it and remembered hearing about how many platelet and red cell transfusions her mother constantly had to undergo in dealing with the effects of chemotherapy. So after her photography class one day when she saw a flyer promoting a blood drive in the nearby student union. Something inside her just clicked, and she knew it was the right way to not only conquer her fear but give back to someone who might be in the same situation her and her family once were.
As she pulled up to the student union, the caterpillars that were churning in her stomach earlier had gone through their metamorphosis and were now over-sized butterflies flapping up a good amount of anxiety within Stacey. “What if I pass out? What if I get scared and nervous and throw up? What if it is more painful than I expected?” she thought, frightened and aloud. She was so close though now, she just couldn’t give in to the fear of a tiny needle poke.
The last time Stacey felt this nervous she couldn’t remember. After making her way inside, filling out a detailed health questionnaire and having her vital signs checked she was on deck to donate blood for the first time. A smiling woman in medical scrubs came over. “Are you ready, dear?” she politely asked. Stacey just nodded her head and was lead to an open chair. Her pulse was pounding so loud at this point. She even heard one of the English professors in attendance start to quote The Tell-Tale Heart. The nurse who had led her back approached once again, this time with the dreaded needle in hand ready to extract Stacey’s blood. “You can look away dear. This won’t take long at all. I’ll count to three,” she said. Stacey instantly grimaced and covered her eyes, looking in the opposite direction. She was so scared she didn’t even hear the nurse count. “Is it in yet? I’m ready,” Stacey said, her hoodie’s sleeve still covering her eyes.
As she looked down and saw her left arm with the needle in it, she came to terms with things. “I thought you said you were going to count to three?” she asked the nurse. “I did! You didn’t hear me?” the nurse laughed. It was nothing like what Stacey expected – just a poke for about a second, not a huge gaping wound or a bout of excruciating trauma. It was nothing but a little, tiny, almost pain-free pinch. Stacey thought it was even crazier how fast the process was! She donated whole blood and was done with her donation in about ten minutes.
As she walked out of the makeshift donation area, she started smiling and almost blushed, as she thought herself quite silly and yet proud for overcoming her fear head-on. The best part wasn’t even the free Chipotle gift card she got from donating but the fact that she was going to help another girl’s mom going through breast cancer to beat it. To her, that was awesome.
It goes to show you that sometimes the fears and misconceptions we carry about things are really nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
We are having a blood drive here at Incept today! However, aside from just donating blood, tell me about a time when you had to overcome your fear and face it head-on? Did you resolve your fear? What did you learn?
Image Credit: http://bekahstorey.files.wordpress.com
My adrenaline was still rushing from the Steelers’ Super Bowl XL victory when I showed up to our blood drive on that Monday afternoon.
Ever since high school, I had volunteered to help serve snacks, but I’d never actually donated blood before. However, as a relatively new college student and a thrilled football fan, I decided that it was time for me to make my first donation. Little did I know that by donating that January day, I would get to meet Big Ben, the Steelers’ championship quarterback…
The donation process got off to a great start. My phlebotomist was a Seahawks fan, so we exchanged a few friendly. Everything was going smoothly, but just as I finished filling the donation bag, my feet started to get cold and my vision became just a little fuzzy. I could slowly feel myself passing out.
Sure enough, about seven seconds later, I was out cold in the donation bed.
According to a friend, I was only out for a few seconds, but during that time, I had a full-length dream that Big Ben and I were at a coffee shop talking about the season, the big game, and other random topics that best friends normally talk about. It felt like our conversation lasted for hours, and, needless to say, when I woke up, I was a little heartbroken that it wasn’t real.
Maybe I didn’t technically meet Ben, but it sure felt like it at the time. The good news is that although my first blood donation experience wasn’t perfect, it didn’t deter me from coming back and trying again. Nowadays I make sure to eat a good, iron-rich meal and drink plenty of fluids prior to my appointments. During the donation process, I recline my chair and keep a drink nearby.
Today, several years later, I still have a great first-donation story to share. I’m happy to report that I’ve made several more successful donations since that day, and I’ve yet to rendezvous with Big Ben again!
Share It NET!
We’re finally Sharing It! A few weeks ago, the “Share it. Know it. Own it. Repeat.” subcommittee rolled out Incept’s very first internal electronic message board, appropriately named “Share It NET.” If you haven’t already begun incorporating Share It NET into your daily routine, now is the time to start! The intranet displays all sorts of new and relevant information, from program-related changes and “tips of the day” to internal news and updates about Incept-specific events.
Now, if you miss a day or two of work, you no longer have to worry about relying on paper memos to catch up on what you missed. You no longer have to worry about accidentally throwing a memo away. Share It NET stores all important company information, and it is accessible with just a click of your mouse! A link to the Share It NET can be found at the top of your livestats page, and there are separate pages for Incept Saves, Incept Results and Incept Internal updates.
If there is anything specific that you would like to see posted on the intranet, please let us know! If you have any special tips, tricks or FYIs related to a particular program, Share It with a supervisor or coach so that they can submit it to be posted. And, of course, if you have any questions or suggestions for improvement, Share It with anyone on the “Share It. Know It. Own It. Repeat.” subcommittee.
We listened when you told us that communication needed improved, and we’re still listening for ways to get even better!
Image Credit: http://5goldenrings.wordpress.com
If you ask a blood donor when they started donating blood, a lot of them will tell you that their first
Like most teenagers, whenever a blood drive came to Minerva High School I was more than happy to sign up!
donation was at their high school blood drive.
Why there? Let’s be honest. While it’s always a good feeling to help out, when you’re that age the real reason you sign up for a blood drive is because it gets you out of class for an hour or so.
I know this, of course, because I was one of those kids.
Oh sure, I liked knowing that I was helping someone out somewhere. But mostly, I wanted a good excuse to skip Algebra and the first few minutes of Gym. It’s been more than five years since I graduated, and I’ve been donating regularly ever since.
What is it that keeps me going back for more, you ask?
After graduation, I went straight into nursing school, and the first class I signed up for was Anatomy and Physiology. Our professor was a huge advocate of donating blood and encouraged that same passion in his students. I learned a lot in that class, but the lesson that stuck with me the most was how much of an impact one blood donation really has.
One blood donation has the potential to help three people. By centrifuging that one pint of blood, doctors are able to use the plasma, platelets and red blood cells separately to treat their patients. If you’re anything like me, hearing that each blood donation is practically a three-for-one deal, you might think that we must not need to donate terribly often to keep the blood supply at a safe level. On the contrary, you’d be amazed at how quickly hospitals go through blood.
On average, 50 units of blood are used to treat victims of car accidents, whereas someone undergoing a bone marrow transplant might use 120 units of platelets and 20 units of whole blood. It might take several blood drives to collect enough blood for each recipient, and nine times out of ten the blood someone receives comes from donors in the recipient’s area.
I’ve been fortunate enough that neither I nor a loved one have ever needed a transfusion, but after seeing how quickly hospitals go through blood and how few people actually donate, how could I not want to help out?
I may not get to skip class anymore, but I still like to give blood whenever I can. Additionally, through my work at Incept, as a blood donor recruiter, I’m able to help other donors find blood drives in their area. It’s something in which I believe very strongly, and I try to pass that enthusiasm on to others. I guess you could say that I went from being a blood donor of convenience to a donor of dedication.
What made you start donating blood?
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In general, one percent doesn’t seem like a lot.
After all, what’s one dollar out of a hundred? When you’re talking about lives, however, one percent becomes a huge number.
Every year, over 4.5 million people will need blood transfusions, and that’s just in the United States. When you consider that of the 38% of our population who is eligible to donate blood only about 10% actually do, you begin to realize just how hard our blood centers and hospitals have to work to prevent blood shortages, especially in the summer and winter months.
What if there was a way to prevent blood shortages?
It’s easier than you might think!
If just one more percent of Americans donated blood, we’d be able to prevent blood shortages altogether. I know, one percent sounds like a laughably small number, but considering that out of our total population (about 307,006,550 people), one percent accounts for about 3 million units of blood reaching our hospitals that wouldn’t have otherwise. Combine those 3 million units with the blood that’s already being donated, and you can see how easy it would be to stop blood shortages in their tracks.
Donating blood is easier than you think. It only takes about an hour’s time and has the potential to save up to three lives. So what’s stopping you from donating? Let’s get that extra one percent, and help save lives in our community!
Photo Credit: http://www.tech.purdue.edu/contribute_images/blood-drive.jpg
We always talk about the newest breakthroughs in the medical field, but we tend to think of the newest medicine for this or the best new surgery for that. What about the technology that makes medicine possible, though?
We’re starting to see some major innovations, especially where blood and the circulatory system are concerned. We’ve had breakthroughs in everything from diets based on your blood type to innovative attempts to create a substitute for human blood. However, there are still many more amazing new “inventions” just waiting to be uncovered.
Blood-powered turbine.
As a society, we’ve become very concerned with cleaner energy sources, and while the turbine has been around since the late 1800’s, none have ever been powered by blood until now. Swiss researchers have invented a tiny turbine that uses our own circulatory system to produce energy. While this may seem strange at first glance, this nifty little contraption could be used to power pacemakers, drug delivery pumps or other medical devices that need batteries to run. The turbine still has a way to go before it’s ready for use, but once it’s finished it could have a huge impact on the advancement of internal medical technology.
Knowing one’s blood sugar level is very important to someone who has diabetes. Currently, you have to test your blood a couple of times every day by lancing a fingertip and placing a drop of blood into a blood glucose meter. What if there was a way to avoid that?
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, researchers are working on a specially designed ink that will change
colors depending on your blood glucose level. Tiny nano ink particles are tattooed under the skin and react to the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. If your glucose levels are normal, the ink stays orange but should your glucose level drop, the ink will turn purple. If your glucose level climbs above normal, the ink turns yellow. It’ll still be at least another two years before the ink is ready to be used on humans. But once it is, keeping an eye on your blood glucose levels will be a snap.
These are just two of the new inventions that will be becoming available to hospitals and doctors offices in the near future. Who knows what else is in store? What do you see being the next big innovations for the medical field?
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What is a lifetime?
I don’t mean to get all philosophical on you right off the bat. But really think about it. What is a lifetime? It is hard to say. I was inspired recently by a quote from the Dalai Lama, after he was asked what surprises him the most in life…
He said, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present. The result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.”
I remember reading this quote and simply feeling awestruck about how true those words are. Everyday life in a proverbial “daily grind” – going to work, studying for school, paying the bills and so on. I think some people forget to take a second and just look up at the sun, and give grace for being alive. This world isn’t perfect, but when you take a closer look at the simple details in everyday life it sure is beautiful, isn’t it?
What is stopping you?
When it comes to showing appreciation for life, what better way than to donate blood? If you have donated blood before reading this, then take a second to think about where your blood might have gone and who it might have helped. It is almost crazy to think that, in a way, part of you is flowing through someone else. That little pint of blood that you gave could be flowing through the veins of a child going through cancer treatment (and on the road to recovery), all because you decided to take the time out of your busy life to simply give back. It goes beyond the time where the child receives that transfusion for treatment, though. That one blood donation can ultimately be what keeps a person alive. The neat thing is as they grow, and life moves on, there is a little part of you with them.
At Incept, when I’ve talked to first-time blood donors, I really want to convey the following message to them: even if they donate just this one time, they are still producing a lasting, positive impact on someone (or maybe even multiple people) by putting life on pause for a little less than an hour. It makes you think. A regular blood donor is a very rare type of person who is willing to put the rat race on hold or find some extra time to willingly give part of themselves. To me, that is what living is. Living in this life is not just being able to recognize the beauty that surrounds us, but also to recognize when a fellow human being needs help, and answer a noble cause, such as donating blood. Sometimes all that is needed to be asked is, “What is stopping you?”
If you haven’t yet donated blood, what’s stopping you?
Photo Credit: http://www.irishhealth.com
