Count to two. One and two. In that small space of time, a neighbor in North Carolina or someone in the US needs blood. And you can be that blood donor.
Blood transfusions are not just for auto accidents. People with cancer or some other disease also need blood aid. Perhaps even a woman giving birth.
As children are our focus, please add those suffering from:
- A severe injury that’s caused significant blood loss
- Surgery that’s caused a lot of blood loss
- Severe heart or lung disease
- A liver problem that makes the body unable to create certain blood parts
- Bone marrow failure
- Certain cancers such as leukemia and digestive system cancers that cause internal bleeding
- A bleeding disorder such as hemophilia
- Low hemoglobin (part of red blood cells that helps them carry oxygen from the lungs to areas of the body) before, during, or after surgery
- An illness that causes reduced or poor-quality RBCs (anemia)
- Kidney failure, which causes problems with blood cell production
- Treatment for cancer (chemotherapy) that slows down the body’s production of blood cells
That’s right. There are many reasons kids need blood donors like you to step up.
January is National Blood Donor Month
We bring this up now because January is usually a bad month for blood collections. So, January is set up as National Blood Donor Month to motivate donations.
People go on vacations. Or are too busy shopping. Or they get sick during cold and flu season.
And don’t forget the canceled blood donor drives in early 2020 because of the COVID pandemic.
So, it’s no surprise that The American Red Cross reports that the blood supply is the lowest in more than a decade.
University of North Carolina Blood Drive
Each day the Red Cross must collect 13,000 pints of blood from across the country to meet the needs of patients.
Here in North Carolina, UNC hosted its annual Holiday Carolina Blood Drive recently. It was a great turnout. Three hundred twenty units of blood were donated. After testing and processing, these units were sent to hospitals across America.
The Red Cross said the actions of these NC blood donors could affect up to 960 lives!
What’s Stopping You from Being a Blood Donor?
Have you had your flu shot or a COVID-19 vaccine or booster? If so, and you are symptom-free, the Red Cross says there is no blood donation waiting period!
Don’t you have the time?
Donating whole blood usually takes just 7-10 minutes.
Consider using RapidPass to complete your pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online. You can do it before arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit
redcrossblood.org/RapidPass. Follow the instructions on the site. Prepare for the procedure:
- Make sure it is ok with your doctor.
- Get eight hours of sleep.
- Eat a full dinner and breakfast (eggs, meat, leafy greens, fruit). ? Drink lots of water.
- Skip the caffeine.
Your body will lose about two cups of fluid during donation, so being fully hydrated is important. See Blood Donor Basics for more info.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, blood is available for distribution to adults and children in hospitals.
Seventeen percent of people who don’t give blood say they “never thought about it” as the main reason for not donating. Please think about it.
This post was written by Anthony M Scialis. Find him here.