Saved By The Blood

Blood

No, I'm not going to write here about the doctrine of redemption. This is about ordinary blood. The kind of blood we often need after a surgery.

Do you take blood banks for granted?

This is the "quick" version of what it took to get blood for a 14-year-old Palawano girl named Miyan who needed a few units of O+ here on Palawan. Miyan's mom was one of our daughter's best friends, so she is like a bit like granddaughter to us.

How To Get Blood (or, Missionary Life)

Thursday...

The father hikes sick daughter on his back through the jungle for three hours, then rides a "tricycle" (motorcycle with a side car) for 45 minutes on a dirt road to reach the hospital

The hospital has no blood and isn’t allowed to maintain a blood bank

Friday...

The father travels 5 hours by bus to another hospital which is allowed to maintain a blood bank. That hospital has no type O+

Father travels 6 more hours by bus to provincial capital, Puerto Princesa, arriving at 8 p.m.

Saturday...
At 9 a.m. the following day we go to Red Cross with doctor’s request for 4 units of blood, and fill out paperwork

Red Cross has one unit of O+ in stock, but we must replace it with type O+ and find 3 others

They tell us, “Go find blood donors” (this is standard procedure throughout the Philippines; some people will give blood; some want to be paid for their it, as much as $40 per unit)

We text, phone and talk everyone we can think of, looking for O+ donors

We sit back and wait to hear back from our contacts

Most people suggest we go to Red Cross

The father cannot give blood because weighs less than 50 kilos (110 lbs)

Donna signs up to give blood (she's not O+, but this would help things along)

A Red Cross nurse takes her blood pressure and has her fill out a long form

Red Cross nurse pricks Donna’s fingers and types her blood on the desk where she does all the paperwork

We go to Provincial Hospital for Donna’s required health check, which consists of nothing by having her blood pressure taken

We return to the Red Cross

Meanwhile, a friend in town gets my text and calls his friend who is a military commander

The Commander orders five marines to go donate blood at 4 p.m.

(Assumed next step: five marines salute and say, "Sir! Yes, sir!")

So Donna will not donate, since it’s unneeded

We go home at 12 noon and grab a bit of lunch

Bill leaves home at 3:30 p.m. and goes to Red Cross to meet Marines at 4 p.m.

Marines come at 5 p.m.; only one is type O+

But we will have 3 units: 1 unit from the O+ Marine, 1 unit on stock at Red Cross which they will trade for the other 4 marines’ blood; 1 from our missionary partner, who is O+

Bill drives Marines to Provincial Hospital for their health check

This takes over an hour, as the nurses take their temperature, check blood pressure and listen with stethoscope (apparently it was too scary to do all this to the American woman, or else the nurses thought the marines were cute)

Bill drives marines back to Red Cross for blood extraction

Partner Lynn comes, but they refuse to take her blood because she’s had "a poor night’s sleep" and she will have to donate on the following day

But Red Cross will give us the blood, Lynn just has to donate tomorrow to replace it (an extra unit showed up somehow)

The marines' blood will be screened for AIDS, hepatitis, etc., later that night

Bill tells Red Cross the father wants to take first bus trip (5 a.m.) south

Red Cross tells Bill to bring an ice chest so the blood can be packed in ice, ready for him in the morning

Bill drives a half hour round trip to deliver ice chest to Red Cross

There was a misunderstanding, so the Red Cross tells Bill to come back with the ice chest at 4 a.m. the following day on his way to the terminal with father; "the blood will be ready." Red Cross is open 24/7, but the door will be locked, so Bill should knock

Sunday...

Bill gets home at 8 p.m.

Bill gets up at 3:50 a.m. and gets father

Bill and father arrive at Red Cross at 4:10 a.m.

Bill knocks

Bill knocks

Bill knocks louder

Bill knocks ceaselessly

An old woman who was sleeping on the blood extraction tables at the Red Cross wakes up

Blood is not ready to go

The next 50 minutes...

• The woman has to find the papers (actually Bill had to show her which paper it was) and find the blood
• She gets out two units, so Bill had to tell her the release was for three units)
• She has to copy numbers from each blood bag into a log book, and goes go get her glasses after about ten minutes of struggling to read the numbers
• She packs the ice chest (meticulously wrapping each blood bag and each ice block in old file folders, taping the ice chest closed, etc.)
• She finishes the paperwork and gets Bill to sign the doctor’s request
• Bill has to sign a log book
• Bill pays and fills out a receipt (she has to ask Bill how much he had been told he was supposed to pay)
• Bill pays $100 for processing fee for the three units of blood donated by volunteers
• Bill leaves Red Cross at 5 a.m. with the blood

Bill drives the father to bus terminal

Father boards the bus 30 seconds before it leaves

Father takes blood to his daughter 8 hours by bus to the south

Bill gets home and back to bed at 5:15

Then later that morning, breakfast and church.

Just another Sunday!