When looking at my emailed Red Cross donor card, I saw a solicitation to participate in Power Red, a donation that takes twice as many red blood cells as a whole blood donation, but returns most of the other components. It can only be done every four months, instead of every two months, so I wondered if there was a benefit for the people who need it over whole blood donation.
I followed the links, and found nothing answering my question, so I called the toll-free number, and spoke to a Rebecca -or Rebekah; I didn’t ask- who had difficulty understanding the purpose of my call. I interrupted her often, for which I apologized at the end of our transaction, because she was trained to give boiler-plate answers, and I did not wish to endure listening to them. At one point, while waiting for her to look something up, I opined, “Communication is always a challenge”.
She actually denied that. Wow! I think her self-image is of a good communicator, so my observation clashed with her confirmation bias.
More than once, she asserted that it was up to me to decide which to do, but I insisted on knowing if there was any difference in the methods, so, she eventually escalated the call. Lewis -or Louis; I didn’t ask- also assumed that my primary consideration was my convenience, apparently; when I realized that, I spelled it out that my convenience had zero value in my calculus: I only wished to know which should be better for the patients needing transfusion. So, I offered the possibility that the Power Red deprived patients of other components, and he admitted that the Power Red does not give the platelets, which are of secondary importance, statistically, nor the plasma, which is third.
I concluded that whole blood donations twice as often are better, since I have much flexibility in my schedule at this time, don’t care a whit about being poked, nor even about lying on the bed for a few minutes, because I always enjoy my conversation with the phlebotomists.
Of course, had I read “between the lines” on that page on Power Red, I could have saved myself some time, and Rebecca some aggravation with me, but, I am not very skilled in that. 😉
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