Since Georgia doesn't regulate studios, getting ink means waiting a year to give blood
You want to be a good citizen and donate blood, but you've recently had your body decorated with a tattoo.
If the ink was applied in Georgia, forget about donating blood.
You're deferred for 12 months from the time needle met skin.
However, if you went across the river to an Alabama establishment to get decorated, or further south to one in Florida, well, lie down and roll up your sleeve.
(That is, of course, unless you're subject to one of the other restrictions, such as having lived in Europe or had certain kinds of sex.)
Beverly Tolliver is a team supervisor for the Red Cross Blood Services Central Georgia Division. She explained why the origin of your body art is important to her organization.
"Some states regulate tattoo studios. Many don't," said Tolliver, working at the donor center on Veterans Parkway in Columbus. "Without the guarantee of proper sterilization, we can't take the chance."
She said a tattoo studio needs to have an autoclave as found in hospitals. It's a container which sterilizes instruments with superheated steam under pressure. Other rules for cleanliness in the studio must be strictly enforced.
Asked if the current popularity of tattoos means a reduction in numbers of those donating, she said she wasn't sure whether it constituted a large portion of potential donors.
"We see it a little more when we go into a business for a blood drive than we do from people who just stop in at the donor center, because those seem to be more aware of the restrictions," she said.
She said a bigger problem in Columbus is that so many people have spent extended periods of times in certain countries, which disqualifies them. That's because of a number of possible diseases that could have been contracted, among them AIDS or Mad Cow disease.
"That's because of Fort Benning," she said.
Another problem eliminating possible donors during the summer is a lack of iron. "It's hot," Tolliver said. "People tend to eat light." Also regular donors go on vacation.
"There's definitely a shortage," she said.
At American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, no official statistics have been compiled about the tattoo situation, but Beth Boone, a spokesperson, said she was sure it was making some difference. The Red Cross, however, has done no advocacy work to encourage states to regulate tattoo studios, she said.
"We do a lot of education programs to let people serious about giving know about eligibility," Boone said. "Of course, if you can't donate blood there are a lot of different ways to help the Red Cross, including recruiting others to give."
Though Georgia doesn't regulate tattoo studios, Columbus does. But a person getting a tattoo here would still be ineligible.
"I've been all over the country," said Chris Post, artist at Superior Skin Art Studios on Victory Drive, "and I've never seen a place that takes more care than right here. We go through three different stages of cleaning the tubes which hold the needles used, the last being the autoclave. All the needles are sterile and used once. We have our autoclave spore-tested every month to make sure no bacteria has survived."
He said some states, such as Kansas, are very tough when it comes to tattoo regulations.
"To do tattoos there, you have to serve an apprenticeship. It's just like being a cosmetologist. Georgia and Texas are very loose. Some states focus more on revenue than safety."
"We inspect the tattoo studios twice a year," said Cheryl Johnson, information coordinator of the West Central Georgia Health District. "Columbus has adopted very stringent rules to be followed."
These govern such things as studio furnishings, supplies, dyes, sanitation preparation, disinfection of workplace and disposal of waste.
The rules state that an autoclave must be provided in each studio; floors can't be carpeted or covered with nonabsorbent material; all dyes must come from professional suppliers; there is single use of disposal latex gloves; clean smocks must be worn; all unused pigment must be disposed of; and antibacterial solutions must be used in the area of the body where the tattoo is being placed.
"Muscogee is one of the few Georgia counties to adopt such a list of rules," Johnson said.
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