Blood Test in 1956 vs Today
-
Joeobrien1
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 16 Oct 2015, 14:13
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Blood Test in 1956 vs Today
BLOOD TEST IN 1956 VS TODAY
I went to my doctor’s office so they could draw blood for a test. I checked in at the desk and in a few minutes was called by a technician. She led me to a room with a chair outfitted with a swing up arm. I sat in the chair and she lowered the arm to have convenient workspace. She then tied a rubber tube around my upper arm and said, “make a fist.” I did so and she admired my veins (this always happens, my veins stick up and are easy to find). She ripped a paper holder and extracted a small needle attached to an apparatus to hold a tube. She pushed it into my vein with no more pain than a mosquito bite. That done she reached over and picked up the tube and inserted it into the apparatus. The tube filled up in a heartbeat and she pulled it out. It must have sealed itself for no blood spilled. I have done this many times sometimes with three or four tubes drawn out, each time it was easy and painless. She labeled the tube with my data and lifted the swing arm, smiled and said goodbye.
As I left I had a flashback to fifty-nine years ago when I joined the Navy. I was bussed from New Jersey to a facility in Philadelphia where all would be sailors were given a physical examination before being sworn in to the service. Things were a little crude in 1956 and doing physicals for mass quantities of men was by the numbers. After waiting in line for the eye exam and test for color blindness we went into a big room where about fifty of us were lined up naked and examined by a doctor walking down the line and looking at us (he pulled a couple of guys out with obvious problems). Then we put on our shorts and a couple of dozen of us were sent to another room for a blood draw.
The room must have been used for something else and been pressed into service for the blood draw. It was just about big enough for us but there was no furniture so we sat on the floor lining the walls. Two guys came in, I later found were called corpsman, and handed each of us a test tube with a piece of paper taped around the glass. One of them said, “Write your name on it and wait for one of us” and gave a pencil to the man at the end of one wall.
When we finished that the corpsman came to each of us carrying a bunch of needles in his hand. He stuck one in my vein (it hurt) and said, “Hold the tube under the needle and call me when it is full” and went to the next man.
There we were, two dozen men (boys) with needles stuck in our arms waiting for the test tube to fill. The problems started when the first man passed out which started a chain reaction. The corpsmen were running around trying to keep those passed out from falling over and losing their blood. I was one of the first to fill the tube up and called for one of them to collect the thing. They were busy trying to keep up with the fainters and collect their blood before it spilled, one of them yelled at me, “Just hold it there. I’m busy.” My tube was running over and I had to move to keep from getting the blood on my shorts. However, I didn’t lose much more when he finally showed up and put a cork in the tube after spilling a little out. Then he pulled the needle out of my arm and put a cotton ball on held by a piece of tape. When they got all of the fainters up they took us to another place for more physical. That’s the way it was in 1956.
By the time I reached the elevator I flashed to the present and thanked my lucky stars things have improved since 1956.
It’s amazing some of the things that pop into your head at times.
J.F.O’Brien
I went to my doctor’s office so they could draw blood for a test. I checked in at the desk and in a few minutes was called by a technician. She led me to a room with a chair outfitted with a swing up arm. I sat in the chair and she lowered the arm to have convenient workspace. She then tied a rubber tube around my upper arm and said, “make a fist.” I did so and she admired my veins (this always happens, my veins stick up and are easy to find). She ripped a paper holder and extracted a small needle attached to an apparatus to hold a tube. She pushed it into my vein with no more pain than a mosquito bite. That done she reached over and picked up the tube and inserted it into the apparatus. The tube filled up in a heartbeat and she pulled it out. It must have sealed itself for no blood spilled. I have done this many times sometimes with three or four tubes drawn out, each time it was easy and painless. She labeled the tube with my data and lifted the swing arm, smiled and said goodbye.
As I left I had a flashback to fifty-nine years ago when I joined the Navy. I was bussed from New Jersey to a facility in Philadelphia where all would be sailors were given a physical examination before being sworn in to the service. Things were a little crude in 1956 and doing physicals for mass quantities of men was by the numbers. After waiting in line for the eye exam and test for color blindness we went into a big room where about fifty of us were lined up naked and examined by a doctor walking down the line and looking at us (he pulled a couple of guys out with obvious problems). Then we put on our shorts and a couple of dozen of us were sent to another room for a blood draw.
The room must have been used for something else and been pressed into service for the blood draw. It was just about big enough for us but there was no furniture so we sat on the floor lining the walls. Two guys came in, I later found were called corpsman, and handed each of us a test tube with a piece of paper taped around the glass. One of them said, “Write your name on it and wait for one of us” and gave a pencil to the man at the end of one wall.
When we finished that the corpsman came to each of us carrying a bunch of needles in his hand. He stuck one in my vein (it hurt) and said, “Hold the tube under the needle and call me when it is full” and went to the next man.
There we were, two dozen men (boys) with needles stuck in our arms waiting for the test tube to fill. The problems started when the first man passed out which started a chain reaction. The corpsmen were running around trying to keep those passed out from falling over and losing their blood. I was one of the first to fill the tube up and called for one of them to collect the thing. They were busy trying to keep up with the fainters and collect their blood before it spilled, one of them yelled at me, “Just hold it there. I’m busy.” My tube was running over and I had to move to keep from getting the blood on my shorts. However, I didn’t lose much more when he finally showed up and put a cork in the tube after spilling a little out. Then he pulled the needle out of my arm and put a cotton ball on held by a piece of tape. When they got all of the fainters up they took us to another place for more physical. That’s the way it was in 1956.
By the time I reached the elevator I flashed to the present and thanked my lucky stars things have improved since 1956.
It’s amazing some of the things that pop into your head at times.
J.F.O’Brien
-
DATo
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 6010
- Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Wow! That was quite a story. I almost passed out before I reached the end myself *LOL*.
I assume this is a true story which makes it all the more interesting to me. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I assume this is a true story which makes it all the more interesting to me. Thank you for sharing this with us.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
― Steven Wright
-
Joeobrien1
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 16 Oct 2015, 14:13
- Bookshelf Size: 0
It is a true story. Joeobrien1
-
stanley
- Posts: 84
- Joined: 21 Oct 2015, 13:15
- Bookshelf Size: 15
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-stanley.html
- Latest Review: "Return to the Go-Go" by William Peskett
An engaging story. I felt like I was there myself.
Latest Review: "Return to the Go-Go" by William Peskett
