How to safely take blood from others

Blood letting is the process of drawing blood by making an incision with a blade or small hole with a lance, then allowing the blood to collect on the surface of the skin. The blood is then licked up or sucked from the cut. The area from where you intend to draw blood should be sterile, as should the instruments you use. The two most popular methods, and easiest, are lances and razor blades. Diabetic lances can be purchased at any pharmacy, are safe, sterile and relatively painless. You can also purchase the injector to make things go a little easier. However, some donors and Vampyres perfer to use the lancets by hand so that they can control the amount of pressure. Disposable surgical scalpels are another possibility. They can be bought on the web. Razors are good because they are cheap, disposable and pretty easy to obtain. Lances allow for only small amounts of blood letting. Razor blades and scalpels allow for more blood, however cuts should be precise and practiced. They should be made parallel to the flow of muscle and flesh in the human, and not penetrate very deeply, just enough for bleeding. A small shallow cut is usually all that's needed, best places I have found are the back of the shoulder, arm, and chest. If the cuts are on a female they usually don't want them to be visible, and you have to be mindful of bra straps, etc which may cross over the cut and cause irritation to the wound as well as possible infection. NEVER make cuts on or near the wrists, feet, ankles or the neck. There are many blood v essels and nerves here that only spell disaster.

Clean the area with a antiseptic or alcohol wipe, and make an incision, not too deep and preferably away from any veins. You may need to ask your donor to tense and un-tense their muscles to allow blood flow. I find it best to lap/suck lightly rather than sucking extremely hard as it can cause bruising of the wound. If you haven't done it before, it does take practice to get right. Practice on the skin of a tomato or grapefruit. See anatomical charts for where to cut. Usually a cut will heal up in about two weeks and leave a small pink scar for a short time. It actually takes a good cut to get very much blood, but think small and shallow at first. It's important that you and your donor have a strong bond of trust. Remember to stay calm, this will reinforce how much your donor trusts you and will making the cutting process much easier. Shaky hands cause jagged, painful cuts for the donor, so relax. When the feeding session is finished the wound should be attended to properly. (Knowing basic first aid is important.) Antibiotic cream should be applied to the wound and then it should be bandaged. (The human mouth contains TONS of germs, and you don't want your donor to get sick do you?) BE SAFE. Use STERILE, sharp razors with out any signs of rust or any other substances (such as old blood), [Those should be properly disposed of] or lances. Either re-sterilize properly after use or dispose of them properly. DO NOT USE SYRINGES unless you have been properly trained and liscensed!! This whole process can be quite intimate. In all instances, you should give your donors adequate time to recover between feedings, encourage them to eat before their donation, and take precautions that the donor is free from disease.

How to sterilize lances, safety pins, sewing needles, razors, scalpels and other such metal pointy objects. Put a saucepan on the stove filled about half way with water and bring to a boil. Place the metal object you wish to sterilize in the pan when the water is boiling. Boil for 10 minutes with the lid on. Then remove from heat and allow to cool. Use tongs to remove the now sterilized objects from the pan and place in a container filled with isopropyl alcohol. Allow the objects to soak for several minutes before removing and carefully dry. Or you can use tongs to hold the object and use flame to sterilize the object. Heat the object for several moments and remove from flame and wipe w/ a clean, sterile towel. Repeat this process a few times.

It would also be intelligent to obtain a copy of a book on the human anatomy, preferably with lots of pictures and descriptions. That way you won't accidentally severe a nerve, artery or tendon. Enroll for a first aid class or a course on phlebotomy if you can. Familiarize yourself with proper first aid equipments and techniques of using them. Primarily antiseptics, bandaging, wound cleaning. On stopping blood flow for major wounds (in case you screw up big time), on sterilizing equipment, and on the symptoms of too much blood loss (important for the safety of your donor). Do research on the human body. Circulatory system, muscular, nervous, etc. It should give you a good idea as to how to determine a vein from an artery, avoid appropriate nerve bundles, etc. Keep items such as antiseptic swabs and bandaging handy. If you want more of a medical kit include gauze, medical tape, coagulants, wound dressing kits, stitching materials are also good ideas. Not only is this good practice for engaging in bloodplay in a safe manner, but hey, if you or someone you know gets hurt, it's convenient. Aside from the usual for cleaning up, you should keep in this kit your means for engaging in bloodletting. Knives, sterile razors, and diabetic lancets. Lancets are perhaps the best thing to use. They are a one-time use, use and throw away deal, which are generally very sterile and won't allow too much damage to be done.

IMPORTANT: Require all of your donors to have blood tests done. Not just once, but every six months. Make sure all donors have a CBC (Complete Blood Count) to eliminate any health risks such as anemia, any blood clotting problems (not something you want to discover too late...) and any blood born diseases. HIV and other serious diseases are a very real issue. Thinking that "It won't happen to me" is an attitude that will only doom you to failure. Please be smart when feeding.

Before you enter into a donor/Vampyre relationship be very sure all parties are aware of what this entails. ALL DONORS MUST BE WILLING. Either when merely feeding or when embracing them. I cannot stress this enough. The taking of someone's blood is taking a little of their life force. Blood is the essence of their being, their soul, their life, however you would like to refer to it as. You don't want aggravated assault and/or attempted murder charges. If you're really worried about this sort of thing draw up a contract/waiver and have both you and the donor sign it. (Refer to the bottom of the page for a contract/waiver template)*

An important rule concerning donors
Avoid drinking 3 times from the same donor at all costs, as it will cause a strong emotional bond to form between the donor and Vampyre. Drink at most only twice from said donor and move on. Why is this so important you ask. Well the bond that forms is a very strong one, and very difficult to break. Its not a mutual thing either. The Vampyre will not feel attached to the donor, but the donor will feel extremely attached to the Vampyre. This can cause all sorts of problems, like jealousy, obsession, the donor falls in love with the Vampyre, etc. It can even go so far that the donor will stalk the Vampyre (how ironic!). This why it is very important to have multiple donors. Granted this may be a difficult task, but it's an important one for understandable reasons. So save yourself a lot of hassle and observe this rule.

I felt this was a well duh but some things have brought it to my attention that not all people know this. Do not feed from a sick individual. Even though not all diseases can be passed on through blood there are still plenty that can. Vampyre immune systems are a lot stronger than mortals, but they're not perfect. Its best to not tempt fate. Also, because the donor is sick they are also weak, as their body devotes its resources to healing itself. Feeding from them only makes them weaker and inhibits the healing process for them. Also stay away from individuals that take prescriptions, as they can put a bad taste in the blood. So take a mental note [if you should need one:)], and stay away from sick people when in the pursuit of blood. Also, Do NOT feed from your donor when they are intoxicated as it thins the blood, decreases the ability to clot and generally increases risk of harm to the donor.

And one last important note. Drinking your own blood is something a Vampyre should only do when in a real jam, when nothing else will keep the cravings tolerable and when you cannot locate a donor. This will only hold you for about a month, and should never be done repeatedly. The bottom line is that you must find a donor, unless you can successfully learn to psi-feed.

Author: Razor The Tormented