You might not realize it, but by donating blood, you’re essentially giving the gift of life to someone in need in your community. Blood donations are constantly needed to ensure that there’s an ample fresh supply on hand to provide for those who need blood transfusions because of illness or injury.
Imagine if you or one of family members needed blood in an emergency and it just wasn’t available? Taking an hour out of your busy schedule to donate at our upcoming blood drive can protect our community’s blood supply and help save the life of someone in our community.
Blood transfusions can save the lives of:
Blood cannot be created; it needs to be donated. Only 38 percent of people in the United States are eligible to donate blood; however, less than 10 percent actually donate each year. Keeping this in mind, consider these facts from the American Red Cross:
It’s good to donate if you’re healthy and able, regardless of your blood type. However, there’s always a need for specific blood and plasma types that are considered universal and can be used when a patient’s blood type is unknown, for newborn infants or if a patient’s particular blood type is unavailable.
When you donate a pint of blood, you could be helping more than one patient. A pint of blood can produce two or three of the following transfusable products:
Depending upon the type of donation process, a donor can either donate whole blood, which contains all four components, or donate only a specific component through a process known as apheresis. A single apheresis platelet donation provides one transfusion dose, which otherwise would have needed to be extracted from five individual whole blood donations.
Because of their short shelf life of five days after being collected, platelet donations are constantly needed by blood banks to be ready when needed. Red blood cells also have a short shelf life and need to be used within 42 days of being collected. Plasma and cryoprecipitate can be frozen and stored for up to a year after being donated.
Before coming to donate blood, it’s a good idea to have a light meal and make sure you are well hydrated. Bring your driver’s license and donor card or two other forms of identification. Bring a list of the medications you’re currently taking because you’ll be asked during the mini-physical part of the donation process. Your temperature, pulse, blood pressure and hemoglobin level will be checked before you’re cleared to donate blood.
The actual blood donation only takes 8-10 minutes. If you choose apheresis, the process may take up to two hours. After your donation, you should stop and have a snack and drink before you’re permitted to leave 10-15 minutes after your donation.
Donating blood is a great way to give back to your community and potentially save a life by only giving up an hour of your time.