Regular donor claims he was chased from blood bank

The Hermitage Village, San Fernando resident said he was chased away by a nurse who, he claimed, ordered a security officer on duty to take back his number which he had pulled when he arrived there at 8 am.

Ramraj told Newsday the room was filled with people waiting to donate blood and he pulled number 67.

As a regular donor, Ramraj said there is a mutual understanding between donors and the nurses and usually a concession is made when the waiting lines are long. He said he usually asks to speak to a senior official and did so yesterday but was shocked when one of the nurses allegedly became very aggressive towards him and ordered security to retrieve his number while telling him to go to another hospital to make his blood donation.

“It is the first time this has ever happened to me,” he told Newsday.

“In my experience over the years as a donor, the nurse will tell you have a seat and wait.

She will try her best to help out and see how she could fit in the regular donors between those who came in to donate for a special person.” Donating blood, he said, is his way of him giving back to society, but because of the treatment meted out to him, he fears he may never want to give blood again. Ramraj said staff at the blood bank are usually very courteous.

“I don’t know what happened today (yesterday) with that particular nurse and her attitude telling me to go somewhere else and treating me the way she did. My blood type is a very rare one I am glad to give it.” He said the nurse even dared him to report her to her superiors “on the first floor”.

He said he immediately reported the matter to the Customer Service department at the SFGH. Contacted on the incident, Ag CEO of the South West Regional Health Authority Gail Miller-Meade promised to contact Ramraj and to investigate the matter.