Is it strange that I really enjoy giving blood? I've given whole blood and by apheresis and have since I was old enough (which I think is age 16?). And sometimes I get sick – I've gotten pretty ill twice – and my blood's about as common a type as there are, but every single time there's a drive near me I always sign up. I can't quite explain it. I even watch the process. My husband, on the other hand, will faint if a needle comes anywhere near him and thinks I'm insane.

And so far as I know all medical needles these days are single use. Gone are the days of cut glass needles. I think the only danger in giving blood lies in the receiving end, if the donor blood is somehow infected or incompatible. The Red Cross screens to the point of absurdity (a man can't give if he's gay), but there can still be problems.

One time and you ditch it.
All of them.
At least in the US.
If you're going somewhere where they're trying to reuse needles..you don't want to go there. Seriously.
It's to protect you from other people's germs.
Even IV drug users theoretically know better than to try that shit. Cleaning them is difficult. Needles get dull after the first use anyway.
Yuck.
Just yuck.

Huh. Are all medical needles one time use, or do they sterilize some kinds?

...Still kinda creeped out, even without taintedness. >_>

Um. "Tainted needles"?

Honey, those things are one time use only. You've got a better chance of acquiring an infection from a papercut.
Seriously.
You can stop worrying.
They swab your arm with alcohol first to kill off *your* germs on your skin. Then they put a bandage over the teensy little hole so no germs land on it before it closes up.
I draw samples of blood for lab tests on a near-daily basis.
On a side note: those "baby needles" just take longer. The normal sized needles don't hurt more, you just expect them to. They don't put them in all the way, either. It's when the needle wiggles in your arm that it gets uncomfortable. So long as you and the person drawing your blood hold still it's not so bad.
(Yes, I hate needles. No, I'm not full of it. Yes people have frequently told me they didn't feel a thing if they weren't watching me, sometimes even when they were. I tried to get good at this. It's when someone's squirming and pulling away that pisses me off, because they're putting both of us at risk for an accident.)

Went through all of that, got test-pricked twice, and I'm too anemic.

Actually kind of annoying, really, after I'd got up the courage to go.

If you don't want to go, then don't go. It's as simple as that. I have not ever given blood because of my fear of needles. I just can't reconcile myself to do it. There is nothing wrong with me. There is nothing wrong with you, nor are you the only one out there who doesn't/can't do it. Chin up!

I should go, yeah. I just, there's lots that could go wrong. And I know everything is like that, but this is something possibly detrimental to my health, my blood. I don't care when I'm dead, I'm a donor, carve me up like meatloaf if you want to, but while I'm alive, I have to live with anything that goes wrong.

Hard as the techs might try, well as they're trained, people still get infected from tainted needles.

Buuut... I should go. ._.

We held a blood drive at a place where I was a new hire about 5 years ago, dedicated for an employee who was hospitalized and who subsequently died, of some blood and liver related thing. I didn't participate- I have a similar fear of needles, I've posted about it. I can deal with it to the extent of doing something that I agree MUST be done. It doesn't hurt much any more, really-- I just tell 'em that I sometimes pass out and they have me go lay down and send their best tech and a baby-sized needle. I turn my head the other way, so I don't see ANYTHING, and I get through it.

The key is the degree of motivation-- if you agree that some thing ABSOLUTELY MUST BE DONE, then it must be and ya gotta get thru it. If it doesn't rise to that level, it isn't worth the trauma it causes.