Nose Bleed Monday

I was not scheduled to have any duty today but Ted asked me yesterday [read BLOODY SUNDAY] to come today because number 1.)I won’t be able to attend my duty on Saturday and number 2.) his girlfriend and another girl who were supposed to have their respective duties for the morning shift will be absent.

Despite the hammering of heavy rain I still decided to come, Ted is really cool to be with anyway.

I came an hour later than my shift; nevertheless there wasn’t any client yet. I was surprised though when I found out that Ted wasn’t actually alone. Apparently, Mon (not me) and MarkRN were also present. It appears that both of them attended this duty because they didn’t want to attend their respective schedules as well. At first I felt really out of placed. The three of them were my batchmates in the University where I graduated, however I have never really had a chance to talk to them. The three of them on the otherhand were high school friends so there were times when they talk about certain things or people that I am really clueless about. But since we are a little bit familiar with each other and we have common friends I was able to join them completely later on.

There weren’t too many clients this morning, besides maybe the two or three people requesting to donate a blood, nevertheless we still try to diligently screen the clients during the interview. One guy came in without apparent reason and asked if he can donate a blood, he just wanted to donate. PERIOD. The guy seemed okay until we went to the Hepatitis part of the interview. He had the disease about three years ago and we decided to shoo him out since we cannot be sure if he was already cured. Fortunately the guy went home peacefully.

However, not all people who are willing to help a sick friend or relative is as peaceful as the previous, (and I observe that not too many are bright enough to answer translated questions correctly.)

After our lunch we were surprised because a gang of hugely muscled men came in to donate their blood. One guy was insisting that he is a Type “O” donor and pulled out our Organization ID. But since his name was not printed in the card we have to do the blood typing again. He was very disinclined to undergo the blood pricking again, arguing that it hurts a lot. He was unwilling to redo the blood typing until I said that this was “the Standard Operating Procedure of the Agency.” I didn’t know if he really understood the term but that really shut him up. And besides, if you cannot tolerate the pricking of a tiny steel on your fingertip, how would you be able to tolerate the insertion of a really huge needle for withdrawing blood.

There was another one in that group, and Ted was interviewing him.

Ted called me and asked about how to ask about penitensyero (flagellants). You see, we ask people about any history of any open wounds… people who recently have tattooed, piercings and, yes, engaged in the traditional PENITENSYAS during the holy week are not allowed. So I went to Ted and told him to ask “WHEN” he last joined the penitensya. It is always better to ask “WHEN” since questions answerable by yes or no virtually yield an untruthful “NO” for an answer.

Ted and I simultaneously asked the guy. He said yes. If the penitensya happened last year then it is okay but if it happened within the year then we have to decline the guy. The guy wasn’t the smartest ass in the world and his answer was a vague yes. So we have to expound our WHEN-QUESTION.

We were like, “Kelan po to nangyari? Nakaraang summer po ba?” (When did this happen? Was it last summer?)

He said yes. (My nostrils flared up a bit)

“As in April of this year or last year?”

“April.”

“2008 or 2007?”

“2008.”

That’s it we decided to discontinue the interview and told the guy that he didn’t meet the criteria. He was perplexed at first, but after our really informative explanation it dawned him that he wouldn’t be able to donate his blood just because he is, well, too religious.

He immediately took back his answer and said that it had, in fact, happened last April last year, this year he was actually in Zambales. The senior Medical Technologist intervened but the man was very keen to present further evidences that he was indeed in Zambales last summer. “Gusto nyo Maam punta tayo sa baranggay at kausapan nyo so Kapitan nang makita nyo talaga na nasa Zambales ako. Wala ako sa penitensya.” (If you want Maam you can come with me in the Baranggay Hall and you can talk with the Branggay Captain. So you can see that I was actually in Zambales. I was not here when the penitensya happened.). I joked at Ted, “Ted sumama ka raw sa Branggay.” (Ted, he said you should join him in the Branggay hall.) Ted was like, “Aba, isasama kita.” (I’ll bring you with me.)

Of course the Med Tech is not stupid to do what he requested. (In the OR- If in Doubt- consider a thing unsterile) So she said, you might as well ask your other friends to donate in your place. The guy was absolutely pissed. I saw the clock and in a few minutes my shift will be over. I was reluctant to leave while he was in the Blood Bank. The guy looked really gangly and his mates… abominably scary. But before the clock struck 2, five or six more men came in. They were in fact the substitutes for the guy. Man, he must be really pissed sending that many in his place. Well….