JOSH@IBM.COM (Josh Knight) (08/24/90)
In archive-number 2406, "Robert M. Hamer" <HAMER@Ruby.VCU.EDU> writes: > ... The last time I donated, perhaps a month or so ago, > the phlebomist checked my arms for tracks, too. I asked her if she'd > ever seen needle tracks, and she said she'd not. I haven't, either, and > wonder how effective someone who has never seen tracks would be at > recognizing such signs of IV drug use. I also note that she didn't > check the many other places I hear that IV drug users also inject, such > as behind the knees.(?) I'm not a phlebomist (but I will look the word up :-), and I'm not familiar with IV drug users' arms. However, many years ago a particularly inept technician had to try 3 or 4 times to draw about 10-20cc's of blood. The multiple attempts and the final semi-successful penetration left marks that were visible for weeks. I can't imagine that someone anxious to fry their brain with their latest acquisition from the street will be particularly adept at using the needle. Also, I believe that the reason IV drug users inject behind their knees (or other obscure places) is because they have rendered the more accessible veins unusable for injection. I can't imagine that this sort of damage wouldn't at least look unusual, not to mention how difficult (if not impossible) it would be to get a donation from such damaged veins. As I said, this is all things I've heard; I'm hardly an authoritative source on this topic. A couple of things occurred to me since my previous posting. The forms say that if you test positive for HIV you will be put on a list of people that are not allowed to give blood. Not very anonymous that. Also they don't say to whom the information that you marked your blood for laboratory use only (i.e. not for transfusion) might be given. However, I think they're trying... Josh Knight josh@ibm.com
pepke@SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU (Eric Pepke) (08/25/90)
In article <38328@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> JOSH@IBM.COM (Josh Knight) writes: > I believe that the reason IV drug users inject behind their knees (or > other obscure places) is because they have rendered the more accessible > veins unusable for injection. It's mostly done so that people cannot see the tracks. Another popular place to mainline is under the tongue. Eric Pepke INTERNET: pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET: pepke@fsu Florida State University SPAN: scri::pepke Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 BITNET: pepke@fsu Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.