This actually happened within an hour or so of Märia's story from yesterday (which actually happened on the 3rd, but she didn't post it until yesterday) and I am posting mine today).

Well, Josh and Märia left the house so that I could get some sleep as I was tired from work. About a half hour after they left I got a phone call from the blood bank. They told me that they needed my blood. I said I had Saturday off and would come in then. They said no, they needed my blood now. I of course thought this a gimmick; call people up, make them think they HAVE to give blood as a moral matter and you get more blood. So I called her on it, said I have given blood every opportunity I had to give it ever since I was 17. I only didn't give blood for 6 months after Korea because I was deferred, and for 1 year after Iraq. She said it wasn't a gimmick.

She said that a woman had an accident of some sort, and her femoral artery burst, and they were having to amputate the leg. They needed AB- blood NOW and would appreciate it if I came right in.

Well, I got dressed, less skeptical now, and went right in. I walked up behind a couple of other people and they asked every one of us if we were Steven Rushing. I said I was. They gave me all the paperwork prefilled out. All I had to do was answer the 19 common questions (aids, africa, malaria, etc.). When I did, they skipped me through the line over say 4 or 5 people into the interview room. Here they ask all the uncomfortable personal questions about sex, drugs and diseases and take your temperature, blood pressure, and test your blood's weight in water for iron.

I actually came up at 100.1 degrees on my temperature. They said I had to have less than 99.4 to give blood. I explained that I wasn't sick at all; I just had a long drive in an un-airconditioned car in a really hot military uniform. She could see that my uniform was hot and sweaty. She told me to take off my top and we sat there for say 3-5 minutes asking the questions and so forth. She took my temperature again, telling me to not put my tongue down on it firmly and breath through my mouth. Temp came up as 97.3 or something like that and she took it.

Next they flew me through the line again, this time skipping 8-10 people waiting to have their blood drawn. They put me down on a bed and hooked me up quick. Here they did something different from all the other times I had given blood. They took the test samples first, then they hooked up the blood bag. They actually took the test samples back to another room where they tested them for disease and everything. Came out and told me I didn't have any. That was nice to hear. =) 4.5 minutes later I had filled the bags. My body must have sensed the urgency, as they said that was pretty fast to fill them.

I could see lots of bags from other people sitting on the counter waiting to be processed, but they actually packed my bags in ice in front of me, and sent them out to an ambulance which immediately took to the hospital. They didn't even give me a blood receipt. You know that little slip of paper you get with a number to call in case you get sick in a few days or decide your blood wasn't safe after-all? I didn't get one. When I asked why, they said my blood wouldn't last 3 hours and so I wouldn't have the opportunity to call in anyways.

Pretty crazy trip. I have given blood many times, but never anything like this. Give blood peoples! It actually is used and such. Yada yada. yeah.