Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparrow
I had a blood test this morning - boy, that needle stung! 
I've often thought about giving blood, and carrying a donor card; but the health service here are pretty vague on what they use your bits and pieces for. Trying to get meaningful information out of them is like getting blood out of a stone  . |
Back when I was working at Mammoth Lakes Hospital, I had to train the new phebotomy/lab assistants on how to draw blood. There is no good way to train someone except to have them practice on a real live person, so I acted as a test dummy for them.
There is nothing quite so interesting as talking some poor kid, with shaking hands, through sticking a needle in your arm. I'd sit there, reassuring them that they were not going to kill me, no matter how badly they cocked up the draw. At the worst, I'd end up with a bruise.
And, I'd tease them until they'd calm down, and get through their very first stick. Then, we'd go at it with the other arm.
I'd take them through proper tourniquet placement (most people put the thing on way too tight, which adds to the discomfort for the patient), palpation, disinfection, and needle placement (different for blood sample, iv, or blood donation).
The local lab types probably hate me, because I always show up with my own tourniquet (which cannot be over tightened) and critique their performance.
Oh, and PS: I should note that, at that time in history, Mammoth Lakes Hospital only had 15 beds. So, everyone more or less helped out doing damn near every job in the hospital. Except for the lady who cooked the lunches and dinners. She was a genius (especially when making strawberry rhubarb pie, the thought of which still makes me weep for not having any), a complete and total genius.