Inverness donor driver ‘can’t think of anything I don’t like about the job’
When I come to give blood – who will I meet?
Every blood donation session is staffed by a mix of nurses and donor carers, and most of the people you’ll see in a session are actually donor carers rather than nurses. But what does that mean? And what do they do?
Mark Stevens (60) loves his job. Having had a variety of careers before starting as a donor carer, he finds ways of using his previous experience in his new life – and building on it.
Originally from East Sussex, Mark was in the Royal Army Medical Corps when he was younger, and subsequently worked in security, driving everything from ambulances to 26 tonne HGVs.
‘I came to Inverness in 2008,” he said. “We had friends who were moving to Tain, and we helped them move up. I didn’t know where it was before, I just looked on the map before we drove. We stayed for a week, and I just thought ‘Oh! I like it here.’”
After stints in other jobs, Mark became a donor carer driver in March last year.
“It’s everything I was looking for,” he said. “I do quite a mixture of things – I work in the stores, I do all the driving to wherever we’re needed, I help load and unload the truck, and I do pretty much everything on the actual blood session apart from putting the needle in donors’ arms – and I’ve started the training for that too.
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“It sounds corny but I can’t think of anything I don’t like about the job. I enjoy the driving but I’d been looking for a job that challenged me, something more medical, that you had to learn things for. I wanted something that worked me mentally, and it certainly does – you have to learn and then be able to recall weeks later.
“And the people are great. It’s really rewarding when you get a new donor that’s nervous at first, but you talk them through it, and when you take the needle out at the end they say that was great. And you know they feel good.”
The busiest session Mark has worked so far was in Nairn Community Centre last November – a big session with 169 attendees in the space of five hours.
“That was hard-going,” he said. “But it's rewarding as well. It's satisfying when you get people that are either nervous or not straightforward – people with complex travel histories that need checked, for example. There are so many aspects to it, and there's people that you can have a chat with, or you meet somebody you recognise, that you’ve met at a session before.
“I really enjoy it when it’s that level of busy. When you're managing a square of beds with a colleague, when you know what's happening, it's great – it’s like you’re a radar, constantly scanning what's going on - this one's ready in 30 seconds; that one's two minutes; is this person alright? You’re constantly changing and I enjoy it.”
Mark is at most Highland sessions and says he’d love it if you came and said hi!
Inverness donor centre is open every Monday and Thursday with further upcoming donation sessions at Forres on January 28; Aviemore on February 12; Invergordon on February 18, Ullapool on February 19 and Drumnadrochit on February 24.
Highland News and Media wants to bring 5000 Highlanders in to give blood between now and Easter. Join our campaign to give blood and save lives. Book an appointment to give blood at www.scotblood.co.uk, or call 0345 90 90 999 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm).
