About the same here. First time (and last time!) I got suckered into giving blood at the Red Cross it was like a shot glass of orange juice, and a couple cookies. Cheap twits!
Why would you want to be paid for being in the privileged position to be able to help someone sick enough to need a blood transfusion... ?
It used to be a common practice here, @Holly Saunders, but was completely discontinued in the 1980s when AIDS came to the forefront. Drug addicts and alcoholics often gave blood more often than allowed to help support their habits. Now (as far as I know) it is only used for reagent purposes, and not many people are eligible. I once gave blood on a regular basis, but I then realized that nobody wanted my blood--not many anyhow, and much of my blood was simply discarded. If you are type O (particularly O negative), your blood is in much demand, but if you are AB positive, as I am, few people want my red cells, although plasma and platelets are used frequently. I would still give blood products if there were a pheresis (apheresis) unit nearby, but there is not.
Good post Don...as far as I know it's not something anyone ever has been paid to do in this country, we simply just donate... and hope like everyone, that it will be put to good use for someone in desperate need! I didn't know that about AB positive.. another thing I've learned today..thank you. Incidentally Blood donation units set up in our supermarket car parks, church halls , and similar 2 or 3 times a year every year...and of course there's always the main Blood donor units within the NHS hospital bases throughout the country which are open all years...
The mobile blood collection units USUALLY don't have the pheresis units I mentioned, but perhaps the NHS hospitals do. There are also special collection conditions for infants and young children, as they are treated differently than adults.