Running With A Taste for Blood

Our club members don't only do good as part of the Rotary Club but also in their own right.  Rotarian Ken Smith is just such a member and donates his time as a "Blood Runner" tranmsporting emergency medical supplied to hospitals across the county.  This is "a month in the life of a Blood Runner".

We do all have other lives and interests within or outside Rotary.  Stalwart member Ken Smith, The Voice Of Them All at our soapbox derby, member of the Mayflower Morris Men and serious “Bike Rider” is involved in another special cause.

He reports: "I am sure that all of you in the club know that I am a member of “Essex Bloodrunners”, the pen name of Essex Voluntary Blood Service (EVBS).  We transport blood and blood products within the NHS during their “out of hours” times. This can be blood, platelets, samples. In addition, this year, we have also been offering to transport baby milk from donor mums in Essex to the Herts Milk Bank in Welwyn Garden City.

Our duty times generally are, 7pm to 6am Monday to Thursday and then 7pm Friday until 6am Monday, plus public holidays. Weekend duties run from 7pm to 7am and then 7am to 7pm. Milk runs tend to be daytime during the week.

Busy August

So, I thought I’d give you a feel of a, perhaps, typical month. Although August is holiday time, it can still be busy. You can see from the dates that I was away for a bit during the month.
7/8 – 7pm call. Collect a sample from Colchester Hospital and take to Basildon Blood Bank.
7/8 – 11pm call. Collect 2 samples from Colchester Hospital and take to Basildon Blood Bank.
19/8 – 7pm duty. No calls tonight
22/8 – 9pm call. Collect box platelets from Basildon and take to Harlow Hospital.
25/8 – 10pm call. Collect box blood from Basildon Blood Bank and take to Queens Hospital, Romford.
26/8 – 3.30am call. Collect box blood and take to King George’s Hospital, Ilford.
27/8 – 3.30pm call. Collect two boxes (blood & platelets) from Basildon Blood Bank for Colchester Hospital.

Dry Duties

Average time away from home on each call is around 2½ hours. Queens is generally a couple of hours and Colchester, three hours. Fortunately, they were all dry duties in August.