Being a nerd

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

Just read somewhere that as of today (17th October 2023), Natasha and Tony are canonically dead 😭

‘Whatever it takes’

BABES WAKE UP TODAY’S A NATIONAL HOLIDAY 🌈🐀

🎶NEIL IS BANGING OUT THE TUNES🎶

My (old) contribution to the beautiful day that is april 13th

Today is a special day, 17 years ago Neil Banged Out The Tunes

being crossmatched with the wrong A/B/O, RhD/rhesus, or HLA group

Blood that isn't properly screened for blood borne disease, increasing the risk of transmission of HepC, vCJD, and HIV/AIDs

massive transfusion protocols, which have been associated with a minor increased risk in hemolytic transfusion reactions, air embolism, hyper- and hypo- kalemia (blood potassium), magnesia (blood magnesium), and calcemia (blood calcium)

Improper storage of blood and blood products like plasma/FFP and platelets

A list of factors that there have no substantial scientific proof of being linked with poor outcomes and fatalities in blood transfusion:

the sex of the donor

Currently, in the UK, there via a shortage of blood donors; in particular donors from Afro-Carribean backgrounds, whose blood is more likely to be a HLA match for transfusions for sickle cell anaemia and beta thalassaemia sufferers.

I guarantee you that if you've gone into haemorrhagic shock, or are at risk of sickle cell crisis, the absolute last thing you're going to be thinking about is the sex of your donor, because without blood — no matter who donated it — you're going to die.

Blood transfusions save lives — no matter the donor's sex — to say that donor sex is related to adverse outcomes is at best, blatant misinformation with limited if any scientific backing, and at worst, modern day phrenology that's playing dice with people's lives.

Blood is always checked. Comprehensively. It doesn't matter if it's someones first donation or their hundredth. There are multiple checks before you even donate, and we send samples out to get them tested for any blood borne diseases long before the blood makes it's way into anyone. We sort the blood by group ourselves and it's always at least triple-checked on our end. Then it's checked again at the storage site, and once again in hospitals. We all have access to a massive, comprehensive database with every single donor. The bags are clearly labelled and barcoded.

If there was a single fatality linked to a blood donation, there'd be a massive outcry, and an even more massive internal reaction. Part of why the UK system is so careful is because of the mad cow outbreak, which was related to transfusions and honestly still gave some of my coworkers flashbacks. Everyone is constantly guarding against anything like that ever happening again.

The only significant difference between "male" and "female" blood is very slightly different haemoglobin levels. Donated blood with a different haemonglobin level will not kill you. It's meant to be higher than yours, because thats part of the fucking point of blood donations. Higher haemoglobin helps people your blood carry oxygen and helps your body with basically every vital function. Which is why we test haemoglobin levels on site and only accept donations from people with higher than average.

So yeah, one single difference. You know what this incredibly risk-averse, comprehensively research-led system said how trans people might affect that? That they don't. Our full training was literally "treat them like their identified gender"

So no, a donation from someone with the "opposite" sex won't kill you. You know what will kill you? Propaganda like this.

We have literal evidence in living memory of what happens when mass hysteria is whipped up over blood donations. My parents lost one of their best friends in Mexico during the AIDs crisis, because the media wouldn't stop screaming about contaminated blood and how it would kill you and your entire family. He died in his thirties from a fucking nosebleed.

it really demonstrates the absurdity of terfs pretending like their cause is at all scientific, rather than a deeply superstitious and irrational misunderstanding of the human body right down to the most fundamental, basic particles. you could dissect a million blood cells for twenty years, and you won’t be able to find a scrap of gender in any of them.

My husband has O- blood and you know what it's primarily used for? Maternity and neo natal transfusions. His blood goes into babies and women all the time becuase o- is the "oh fuck we haven't got time, emergancy blood transfusion!" stuff. We know this because the UK blood service actually texts you when they use your donation and tell you where it was used.

And this is why JK's crap is so dangerous, because if we start denying men the ability to donate blood because "ew icky man blood" then babies WILL DIE, women WILL DIE. And there's absolutely no evidence that different hormone levels in blood makes any bloody difference to outcomes. Blood is blood and if you need a transfusion all that matters is that it's a compatable type.

I nearly needed a blood transfusion after I had my second child, I lost a lot of blood in seconds. I went from fine to most definitely not fine in the snap of a finger. It's terrifying how fast that can happen. I narrowly missed needing a transfusion but had I needed it, i'm glad the NHS has a decent blood supply. When I had my eldest the woman in the bed opposite me suffered a catastrophic hemhorage 12 hours after giving birth. She was trying to a run a bath and then there was just blood... everywhere. She was in a BAD way and required multiple transfusions in the week we were hospitalised together.

Blood donation saved that woman's life. It saves a lot of women's lives.

It's frankly disgustingly irresponsible for JK to be tweeting this psudoscientific bullshit to her following and treating it like gospel truth.