February 7, 2025 • 14 mins
For "Shop Talk", we share Army member John Norman's powerful note about donating blood. And a lot more of us need to be doing it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney Shop Talk number forty. Welcome
in the shop. Forty. That's a milestone, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, I'm not even forty.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Billier forty Welcome in the shop. John Norman, a member
of the army, sent us this I am so inspired
to be part of. Well, first of all, this is
really cool by John. He said, I'm so inspired to
(00:34):
be part of your normal army. But he put why
in parentheses to make it your normal army. But if
you back off the why, it's our normal army, John,
we will plagiarize that. I love it. So I'm so
inspired to be part of your your slash, our normal Army.
(00:57):
I'm nothing but normal. My and so many others superpower
is to donate my time and my platelets blood products.
In general, blood and platelets cannot be created in a lab.
The only way to acquire them is through voluntary donations.
Blood can be frozen, but platelets only last five days.
(01:19):
I started donating platelets because a dear friend who needed
platelets to survive childhood leukemia, and have not stopped since.
I donated every other week, and so do many others,
because we want to be that difference and to save lives.
Not sure if this is a shop topic or something bigger,
(01:40):
but I wanted to reach out to you because I
feel like it fits exactly your movement. I'd love to
help give a shout out to those normal folks who
donate their time and life to save others who they
don't even know. John Norman, We're going to dive into
some specifics about this and why your note hit home
(02:02):
and is really important. Right after these brief messages from
our general sponsors, everybody, welcome back to the shop number
(02:28):
forty John Norman. He has written a letter that Alex
went and did some work on. I'm so inspired to
be part of your normal army. I'm nothing but normal,
May and so many other superpowers to donate my time
and my platelets. In general, John Norman has a call
for us to donate blood and platelets because that little
(02:53):
bit of extra time and that gift saves lives for
people you don't even know. So here here's some work
that Alex did for us. Why are platelets so important?
Platelets are tiny cells in your blood that form clots
to stop bleeding. For me, as Americans, they are essential
to surviving and fighting cancer, chronic disease, and traumatic injuries.
(03:19):
Every fifteen seconds, somebody in our country needs platelets. Platelets
must be used within five days, and new donors are
needed every day. That's why platelets are so important. Guys,
when you give your blood, it could be stored. Platelets
cannot be stored. They're literally only good for five days,
(03:41):
and every fifteen seconds, there's somebody in our country needing platelets.
Could you be next? What if you go to the
What if you get in a wreck today and go
to hospital need platelets and they're not there, You're dead.
So by giving platelets, you're paying forward what you very
(04:04):
well might need yourself one day. Every two seconds, someone
in the US needs blood and or platelets every two seconds.
Approximately twenty nine thousand units of red blood cells are
needed every day in the United States. What's a unit?
It's about a pint, isn't it. You know?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I think I think a unit's close to a pint,
maybe a court. I don't know what a unit is.
It's not a gallon, but it's.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
A Thanks for putting me on the spot, Bill, We
should be experts doing this show.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
But nice research failed. Whatever. Approximately twenty one units of
red blood cells are needed every day in the US.
I know this, like like when Max got hurt, I'm
almost sure the doctor told me he had about seven
and a half units of blood in his entire body,
(04:58):
and when he got hurt, when it spleen ruptured, he
lost five units. That's why.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Also further down here you'll see built one of the
bullets is a single car accident victim can require as
many as one hundred units of blood.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, yeah, there you go. Okay, Nearly five thousand units
of platelets and sixty five hundred units of plasma are
needed daily. Plasma is the liquid portion of blood. That's
Plasma is what they give to folks who've suffered like
immediate trauma and burn and people have been shocked. It's
(05:31):
bad stuff. Sickle cell disease affects ninety to one hundred
thousand people in the US. About one thousand babies are
born with disease each year. Sickle cell patients can require
blood transfusion throughout their lives. The average red blood cell
transfusion is approximately three units. As Alex said, a single
(05:54):
car accident victim can retire as many as one hundred
units of blood. My own son when he got hit
in a football game and went to the hospital thinking
it was a broken rib and ended up coding because
he's bleeding out internally because he's spleen. It actually ruptured.
(06:16):
He needed like I think sixteen or seventeen units of
blood to save his life. Blood and platelets cannot be manufactured.
They can only come from volunteer donors. That's very important.
We can make hip replacements, we can even make artificial
organs these days. But science does not make blood. The
(06:38):
human body does. Science cannot make platelets, only the human
body does. They can't be manufactured. So all these blood
and all this plasma, all the platelets that we need
every two and fifteen seconds, every single day across the
world to save the lives of your friends and your
loved ones and your family, can only come from a volunteer.
(07:02):
The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
One donation can help safe more than one life. According
to American Cancer Society, more than one point nine million
people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily during their
chemo treatment. The Red Cross provides forty percent of Our
(07:26):
nation's blood and blood components all from generous volunteer donors
that are just like John Norman. But the Red Cross
simply cannot always meet the demands. Because only about three
percent of agailable people donate blood every year, Each new
donor helps the Red Cross meet patient needs. Each year,
(07:50):
an estimated six point eight million people in the US
donate blood. About forty five percent of people in the
US have Group OH positive or negative blood. Type O
negative red cells can be given to patients of all
blood types. Because only seven percent of people in the
US are Type O negative, it's always in great demand
(08:12):
and often in short supply. Type AB plasma can be
transfer used to patients of all blood types. Since only
four percent of the people in US have AB blood,
this plasma is usually in short supply. Red blood cells
must be used within forty two days or less. Platelets
must be used within five days. That's a lot of stuff,
(08:34):
But what all that says is this that the one
that gets me the most. Supply can't always meet demand
because only about three percent of age eligible people donate
blood every year gos three percent. Pretty much everybody listening
(08:55):
to me will personally or have someone very close to
you need blood or plasma in your lifetime, you're gonna
you're gonna be sick. You're gonna be in a hospital.
Someone you love is going to be sick. You're going
to be in hospital. God forbid they have a traumatic
accident like a car wreck or something like that. Or
but you don't even have to be in an accident.
(09:15):
You can have cancer, you can have you can have
a sickness sends you. Children's Research Hospital that we sit
here and talk about all the time that we've highlighted
people in the show from the show, a place that
I think is one of the most amazing places on
the face of the planet that treat childhood cancer that
(09:37):
nobody else across the world could n treat. And they
bring people here from all over the world. Kids children
here from literally all over the world to treat cancer
that doctors from where they're from don't even have the
first clue how to treat. And they do it for
no dollars, for free. They're begging people to give blood
every day because they've got to have light let's in
(10:00):
blood to treat these kids with cancer. There are cancer
hospitals in every city across this country, so when one
hundred percent of us are personally or going to have
someone very close to us as a loved one, need
plasma and blood at some point during their life, but
only three percent of us will take an hour out
of a day to go give a little blood. That
(10:23):
is a microcosm of what's wrong with our country today.
Too few doing too much. It is why we need
an army, not a few doing everything for everybody, but
an army of normal folks.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
An army of normal blood donors, an.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Army of normal blood donors. Seriously, guys, we talk about
it all the time. What would this country look like
if we had this army of normal folks seeing here
is a need and filling it. And you don't always
have to be some part of a big NGO or
anything else to make a profound difference in your community.
(11:04):
John Norman is awesome because he makes such a good
point here. He said, I am nothing but normal, but
I have a superpower. My superpower is to take a
little bit of my time and donate my platelets or
my blood. Because of all the research that you just heard,
(11:27):
John Norman has a superpower. He's just a normal guy
and he has a superpower And one of the things
about John that's super is he is one of three percent.
And if you're listening to me and you haven't ever
given blood in your life, you're one of the ninety
seven percent who's gonna need it one day, or somebody
in your life that's close to you is gonna need
it one day. What if the three percent quick given
(11:52):
good grief. I am going to give blood or platelets
this month because of this letter. I'm gonna go down
to Saint You can do it. They'll take me. I
know they will. They do it. I do it. John,
You've inspired me because I'm one of the ninety seven percent.
I don't get blood, and I'm going to start doing
it because of you, because it is so simple and
so true. And my son's life was spared because of
(12:16):
units of blood that somebody gave and I feel like
a butthole for not having given just on the basis
of that. Thank you for the reminder. Those of you
listen to me who don't give blood or plate let's
shame on us. We're gonna need them, we need to
give them. So John Norman, you are the man. Thanks
for bringing this to our at tension. Alex thanks for
(12:39):
doing the research to point out how important it is.
And and John, thanks for helping us to understand the
importance three percent. Alex, do you get blood?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
No?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I need to.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I mean I actually hate needles. I've gotten a little
bit better about it, but still it's no excuse. I mean,
I'm not a little kid. You can put up with it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I bet you. I bet you hate the needle when
it's going in your arm to save your life. With
the background on the other end, Yeah, I'm going to
I swear to you. I'm going to get Lisa and
we're going to give blood. Lisa hates needles.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Little blood date?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Why not little blood date? Maybe on Valentine's for maybe
on Valentine's Day we'll go give blood. That that would
be a great way to show to spend time with
your loved one, showing love. I don't know, I'm giving blood.
This is this is a wake up call. And it's true.
And those of you listen to me. If you're part
(13:32):
of the ninety seven percent who take blood but don't
give it, just consider what hypocrites you are. I'm one
of them too, So I'm going to start giving blood. John,
thank you. That's that's an awesome letter, an awesome reminder, Alex,
thanks for the research. And here's a call to everybody.
You don't have to be part of anything, to simply
(13:55):
take a little bit of time and go get blood
and platelets because you yourself will probably need them one day.
And how how how wrong is it to take from
a bank that you are unwilling to put any deposit into. Okay, guys,
if you have any ideas for shop talks, please mail
(14:17):
me anytime at Bill at normal folks dot us. Y'all,
if you like this stuff, please rate and review it,
share us on social let people know about us, help
us grow this army. Anything that you can do. The
more folks we have listening, the more impact we have Alex.
(14:40):
Anything else.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Sign up to join the Army at normal folks dot us.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Sign up to join the Army at normal folks dot us.
Thanks to our producer, iron Light Labs that Shop Talk
number forty. We'll see you next week.
Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney Shop Talk number forty. Welcome
in the shop. Forty. That's a milestone, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, I'm not even forty.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Billier forty Welcome in the shop. John Norman, a member
of the army, sent us this I am so inspired
to be part of. Well, first of all, this is
really cool by John. He said, I'm so inspired to
(00:34):
be part of your normal army. But he put why
in parentheses to make it your normal army. But if
you back off the why, it's our normal army, John,
we will plagiarize that. I love it. So I'm so
inspired to be part of your your slash, our normal Army.
(00:57):
I'm nothing but normal. My and so many others superpower
is to donate my time and my platelets blood products.
In general, blood and platelets cannot be created in a lab.
The only way to acquire them is through voluntary donations.
Blood can be frozen, but platelets only last five days.
(01:19):
I started donating platelets because a dear friend who needed
platelets to survive childhood leukemia, and have not stopped since.
I donated every other week, and so do many others,
because we want to be that difference and to save lives.
Not sure if this is a shop topic or something bigger,
(01:40):
but I wanted to reach out to you because I
feel like it fits exactly your movement. I'd love to
help give a shout out to those normal folks who
donate their time and life to save others who they
don't even know. John Norman, We're going to dive into
some specifics about this and why your note hit home
(02:02):
and is really important. Right after these brief messages from
our general sponsors, everybody, welcome back to the shop number
(02:28):
forty John Norman. He has written a letter that Alex
went and did some work on. I'm so inspired to
be part of your normal army. I'm nothing but normal,
May and so many other superpowers to donate my time
and my platelets. In general, John Norman has a call
for us to donate blood and platelets because that little
(02:53):
bit of extra time and that gift saves lives for
people you don't even know. So here here's some work
that Alex did for us. Why are platelets so important?
Platelets are tiny cells in your blood that form clots
to stop bleeding. For me, as Americans, they are essential
to surviving and fighting cancer, chronic disease, and traumatic injuries.
(03:19):
Every fifteen seconds, somebody in our country needs platelets. Platelets
must be used within five days, and new donors are
needed every day. That's why platelets are so important. Guys,
when you give your blood, it could be stored. Platelets
cannot be stored. They're literally only good for five days,
(03:41):
and every fifteen seconds, there's somebody in our country needing platelets.
Could you be next? What if you go to the
What if you get in a wreck today and go
to hospital need platelets and they're not there, You're dead.
So by giving platelets, you're paying forward what you very
(04:04):
well might need yourself one day. Every two seconds, someone
in the US needs blood and or platelets every two seconds.
Approximately twenty nine thousand units of red blood cells are
needed every day in the United States. What's a unit?
It's about a pint, isn't it. You know?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I think I think a unit's close to a pint,
maybe a court. I don't know what a unit is.
It's not a gallon, but it's.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
A Thanks for putting me on the spot, Bill, We
should be experts doing this show.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
But nice research failed. Whatever. Approximately twenty one units of
red blood cells are needed every day in the US.
I know this, like like when Max got hurt, I'm
almost sure the doctor told me he had about seven
and a half units of blood in his entire body,
(04:58):
and when he got hurt, when it spleen ruptured, he
lost five units. That's why.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Also further down here you'll see built one of the
bullets is a single car accident victim can require as
many as one hundred units of blood.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, yeah, there you go. Okay, Nearly five thousand units
of platelets and sixty five hundred units of plasma are
needed daily. Plasma is the liquid portion of blood. That's
Plasma is what they give to folks who've suffered like
immediate trauma and burn and people have been shocked. It's
(05:31):
bad stuff. Sickle cell disease affects ninety to one hundred
thousand people in the US. About one thousand babies are
born with disease each year. Sickle cell patients can require
blood transfusion throughout their lives. The average red blood cell
transfusion is approximately three units. As Alex said, a single
(05:54):
car accident victim can retire as many as one hundred
units of blood. My own son when he got hit
in a football game and went to the hospital thinking
it was a broken rib and ended up coding because
he's bleeding out internally because he's spleen. It actually ruptured.
(06:16):
He needed like I think sixteen or seventeen units of
blood to save his life. Blood and platelets cannot be manufactured.
They can only come from volunteer donors. That's very important.
We can make hip replacements, we can even make artificial
organs these days. But science does not make blood. The
(06:38):
human body does. Science cannot make platelets, only the human
body does. They can't be manufactured. So all these blood
and all this plasma, all the platelets that we need
every two and fifteen seconds, every single day across the
world to save the lives of your friends and your
loved ones and your family, can only come from a volunteer.
(07:02):
The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
One donation can help safe more than one life. According
to American Cancer Society, more than one point nine million
people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily during their
chemo treatment. The Red Cross provides forty percent of Our
(07:26):
nation's blood and blood components all from generous volunteer donors
that are just like John Norman. But the Red Cross
simply cannot always meet the demands. Because only about three
percent of agailable people donate blood every year, Each new
donor helps the Red Cross meet patient needs. Each year,
(07:50):
an estimated six point eight million people in the US
donate blood. About forty five percent of people in the
US have Group OH positive or negative blood. Type O
negative red cells can be given to patients of all
blood types. Because only seven percent of people in the
US are Type O negative, it's always in great demand
(08:12):
and often in short supply. Type AB plasma can be
transfer used to patients of all blood types. Since only
four percent of the people in US have AB blood,
this plasma is usually in short supply. Red blood cells
must be used within forty two days or less. Platelets
must be used within five days. That's a lot of stuff,
(08:34):
But what all that says is this that the one
that gets me the most. Supply can't always meet demand
because only about three percent of age eligible people donate
blood every year gos three percent. Pretty much everybody listening
(08:55):
to me will personally or have someone very close to
you need blood or plasma in your lifetime, you're gonna
you're gonna be sick. You're gonna be in a hospital.
Someone you love is going to be sick. You're going
to be in hospital. God forbid they have a traumatic
accident like a car wreck or something like that. Or
but you don't even have to be in an accident.
(09:15):
You can have cancer, you can have you can have
a sickness sends you. Children's Research Hospital that we sit
here and talk about all the time that we've highlighted
people in the show from the show, a place that
I think is one of the most amazing places on
the face of the planet that treat childhood cancer that
(09:37):
nobody else across the world could n treat. And they
bring people here from all over the world. Kids children
here from literally all over the world to treat cancer
that doctors from where they're from don't even have the
first clue how to treat. And they do it for
no dollars, for free. They're begging people to give blood
every day because they've got to have light let's in
(10:00):
blood to treat these kids with cancer. There are cancer
hospitals in every city across this country, so when one
hundred percent of us are personally or going to have
someone very close to us as a loved one, need
plasma and blood at some point during their life, but
only three percent of us will take an hour out
of a day to go give a little blood. That
(10:23):
is a microcosm of what's wrong with our country today.
Too few doing too much. It is why we need
an army, not a few doing everything for everybody, but
an army of normal folks.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
An army of normal blood donors, an.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Army of normal blood donors. Seriously, guys, we talk about
it all the time. What would this country look like
if we had this army of normal folks seeing here
is a need and filling it. And you don't always
have to be some part of a big NGO or
anything else to make a profound difference in your community.
(11:04):
John Norman is awesome because he makes such a good
point here. He said, I am nothing but normal, but
I have a superpower. My superpower is to take a
little bit of my time and donate my platelets or
my blood. Because of all the research that you just heard,
(11:27):
John Norman has a superpower. He's just a normal guy
and he has a superpower And one of the things
about John that's super is he is one of three percent.
And if you're listening to me and you haven't ever
given blood in your life, you're one of the ninety
seven percent who's gonna need it one day, or somebody
in your life that's close to you is gonna need
it one day. What if the three percent quick given
(11:52):
good grief. I am going to give blood or platelets
this month because of this letter. I'm gonna go down
to Saint You can do it. They'll take me. I
know they will. They do it. I do it. John,
You've inspired me because I'm one of the ninety seven percent.
I don't get blood, and I'm going to start doing
it because of you, because it is so simple and
so true. And my son's life was spared because of
(12:16):
units of blood that somebody gave and I feel like
a butthole for not having given just on the basis
of that. Thank you for the reminder. Those of you
listen to me who don't give blood or plate let's
shame on us. We're gonna need them, we need to
give them. So John Norman, you are the man. Thanks
for bringing this to our at tension. Alex thanks for
(12:39):
doing the research to point out how important it is.
And and John, thanks for helping us to understand the
importance three percent. Alex, do you get blood?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
No?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
I need to.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I mean I actually hate needles. I've gotten a little
bit better about it, but still it's no excuse. I mean,
I'm not a little kid. You can put up with it.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I bet you. I bet you hate the needle when
it's going in your arm to save your life. With
the background on the other end, Yeah, I'm going to
I swear to you. I'm going to get Lisa and
we're going to give blood. Lisa hates needles.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Little blood date?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Why not little blood date? Maybe on Valentine's for maybe
on Valentine's Day we'll go give blood. That that would
be a great way to show to spend time with
your loved one, showing love. I don't know, I'm giving blood.
This is this is a wake up call. And it's true.
And those of you listen to me. If you're part
(13:32):
of the ninety seven percent who take blood but don't
give it, just consider what hypocrites you are. I'm one
of them too, So I'm going to start giving blood. John,
thank you. That's that's an awesome letter, an awesome reminder, Alex,
thanks for the research. And here's a call to everybody.
You don't have to be part of anything, to simply
(13:55):
take a little bit of time and go get blood
and platelets because you yourself will probably need them one day.
And how how how wrong is it to take from
a bank that you are unwilling to put any deposit into. Okay, guys,
if you have any ideas for shop talks, please mail
(14:17):
me anytime at Bill at normal folks dot us. Y'all,
if you like this stuff, please rate and review it,
share us on social let people know about us, help
us grow this army. Anything that you can do. The
more folks we have listening, the more impact we have Alex.
(14:40):
Anything else.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Sign up to join the Army at normal folks dot us.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Sign up to join the Army at normal folks dot us.
Thanks to our producer, iron Light Labs that Shop Talk
number forty. We'll see you next week.
Host
Bill Courtney
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