Plasma Donation

Here is another alert for blood donation shortage in Georgia and other parts of the South. It is a perfect storm situation where the natural decline in blood donations in the summer is meeting an increase in demand for blood transfusions at hospitals.

According to the Red Cross, donors with all blood types are needed, but the greatest shortage is with O negative and O positive blood. Not only are these the blood types that run out first, they also are in dangerously short supply during the summer months. Type O blood can be given to any patient regardless of blood type and is used extensively in hospital emergency rooms as well as for newborns.

“We receive as much as 20% of our donations from college and high school students blood drives in this area,” says Vandiver, “and we cannot hold these drives during the long school vacation every summer. This has a dramatic impact on our blood supply.”

Platelet donations also are urgently needed now and can be given as often as every two weeks. Platelets are the component in the blood that enables it to clot. They are often needed by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The Southern Region, which distributes blood to 140 hospitals across Georgia, needs 1,200 donors every weekday in order to meet the needs of patients in the state. During summer months donations always drop and blood is in short supply nationwide. This causes special problems in Georgia which depends on blood from other states to supplement local donations in order to meet the needs of patients here.

For more information and to find out how to make a blood or platelet donation appointment, please call 1-800-GIVE LIFE (448-3543) or visit this listing at this Atlanta Blood Donation Center

Now Platelet donations are a little different then a plasma or whole blood donation. Anyone that has had a platelet donation should email us your experience at phil at bloodbanker.com, and I’ll give you credit and a link if you like. Take care and spread the word on donating in and around Georgia.

Hey Everyone,

I was alerted today about a shortage of blood supply in the Los Angeles area, including most of Southern California as well. This shortage is really scary because its only a 8hr supply that is left. Anyway, if you or anyone you know lives down there and can donate you would honestly rock! I’ll tell you what, I just had an idea. If you donate in LA starting today and continueing for the rest of the month, email me your name and I’ll make a special page at the end of the month honoring all the good folks that took action and donated. Now get to work

Blood Supply Alert for Southern California from American Red Cross

Urgent Appeal for Blood: Inventory Depleted

Los Angeles, California. USA – The American Red Cross issued a blood supply alert for Southern California on Monday, citing a critically low blood level on hand locally and severe shortages of blood collections across the nation.

The American Red Cross has only an eight-hour supply of Type O-negative blood, just 57 pints, available for Southern California hospitals. Group O-negative blood is the “universal” donor blood often used in emergencies.

There is approximately an eight-hour supply of O-positive, a nineteen-hour supply of Type B-negative, and approximately a one-day supply of most other types of blood. A five-to-seven day supply is generally considered adequate.

“Loss of blood collections due to severe weather in the East and Mid-West and a drop in blood donations in Southern California have greatly impacted our local blood supply,” states Cliff Numark, Director of Donor Recruitment for the American Red Cross Blood Services, Southern California Region.

“If a large-scale disaster caused hundreds of traumas, people could die from a lack of blood,” continues Numark. “We will do our best to meet patient needs, but without an increase in blood donations, hospitals may not have enough blood for patients, including accident victims, premature babies, chemo patients and emergency surgeries. We are urging all eligible donors to please donate.”

The American Red Cross urgently appeals to Southern California residents to donate blood as soon as possible. Any healthy person age 17 or older and weighing at least 110 pounds may be eligible to donate blood.

Now that I think about it, we need a local celeb to get people on board. My little site at Bloodbanker.com can only do so much. So, if you know a celeb that wants to work with us, let me know. I think this idea will generate more interest then anything….I mean, can you imagine losing a loved one in a car accident where the doctors said that they couldn’t find any blood for them because people were just to lazy to donate…its sad I know.

Did you know that the Chicago Area Blood Banks are at an almost all time low! Yeah its true and we need your help in raising awareness and getting people to donate asap. Check this stat out “Less Than 5 Percent Of Eligible Blood Donors Donate", as Bill Rancic from the Donald Trump ‘The Appretice would say, “This is a no-brainer"!
I found this article from the Suntimes today, this is for real folks. I’m calling a blood donation center right after I finish typing this.

Here is the link we have to Chicago area blood banks

The summer months can get pretty lean for blood banks.

Unless there is a widespread disaster, which often brings benevolence to the front of people’s minds, most people are busy with vacations and graduation parties or are out of school and not thinking of donating.

“I don’t know if there’s ever necessarily a surplus of blood. The need is pretty much constant,” said Ammie Tabone, public relations director for Heartland Blood Centers, based in Aurora.

Heartland, which provides blood for 35 hospitals in 12 counties, collects more than 160,000 donated units of blood each year.

The American Association of Blood Banks estimates 8 million people volunteer annually to donate blood. Although 60 percent of the national population is eligible, less than 5 percent donate.

About 26 percent of Heartland’s donors are high school and college students who give at mobile blood collections.

In the summer, donations from students drop off because they’re not in school, Tabone said.

Right now the blood supply is in need of all negative blood types, she said. Those types are not as prevalent, and some, such as B negative, are in great demand. People with O negative blood are called universal donors because they can give to any blood type, while people with type AB blood are considered universal recipients because they can accept any blood type.

Blood donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health.

Chicago’s largest blood bank says its supply of Oh-negative, A-negative and B-negative blood is critically low.

Life-Source says it’s down to only a one-day supply of Oh-negative, and that could get used up if there’s a major trauma.

So go for it today, don’t delay. I’ve even setup a quick way to send the site’s url to all your friends. Yes, go to http://bloodbanker.com/plasma/tell-a-friend.php

This is a neat look at how so many people get turned away from blood donation centers because they have been in malaria riden areas. Check out the rest of this great read, I found this while looking for some information on why people just don’t give enough blood, this is one reason why a donor can’t donate. enjoy

Blood banks turn away up to 150,000 would-be donors each year on the slight chance they picked up malaria while traveling to any of dozens of countries. At the same time, concern is growing that a second parasitic infection from abroad – Chagas’ disease, rampant in parts of Latin America – increasingly threatens donated blood.

Both infections are rare here, but there’s no way to test donated blood for either one. Now blood banks are pushing for better safeguards that also could help stretch the nation’s tight supply.

Next week, the Food and Drug Administration opens debate on how to balance the need for blood with Americans’ increasing travel to malaria hot spots, and to urge manufacturers to develop a malaria test to solve the problem.

The vast majority of U.S. travelers return healthy, and there have been only one or two cases of transfusion-spread malaria in five years. But without a blood test, there’s no way to tell who might be unknowingly incubating the mosquito-borne disease.

So FDA requires blood banks to ask about would-be donors’ travels. No donating for a year after a short trip to a malaria-prone country; for three years for anyone who spent more than a year in a malaria-prone country or suffered malaria symptoms.

It doesn’t matter if you faithfully took anti-malaria medicine; you could have forgotten a pill or be one of the unlucky few infected anyway. Even “safe” vacation spots may not be: The Bahamas aren’t normally malaria-prone, but a May outbreak has just put tourists returning from one island, Great Exuma, on the no-donation list, too.

Some 34,000 pints of blood are needed every day, yet only about 5 percent of the Americans eligible to donate do so, and increasing foreign travel is further shrinking that donor pool. The American Red Cross, which collects half the nation’s blood, last year estimated that some of its regions were losing 150 to 200 donations a month because of the malaria risk.

Historically, most cases of transfusion-spread malaria have been traced to immigrants from malaria-prone countries who harbored the parasite despite years with no symptoms. One U.S. manufacturer, Abbott Laboratories, is in the initial stages of designing a malaria test for donated blood.

So does this mean that I can’t donate after my trip to Jamaica? I’ll find out soon because I just got back and have a blood drive coming up real soon.

This is really neat, I ran into this while searching for a way to get more people interested in blood donation and I think Baskin Robbins has a great idea! Cheers to them! Anywho, check out this program they have going on for donating blood you get ice cream, truely a sweet deal!

Give blood at any BloodSource center or mobile blood drive now through August. 31, 2006 and cool down with a pint of delicious Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream. Anyone who visits BloodSource this summer will get a coupon to redeem at any Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store. Baskin-Robbins says thank you to blood donors thirty-one-der-ful ways – with 31 flavor choices.

During the summer months, blood donations tend to drop. Regular blood donors are busy with vacations and summertime activities. High school and college student donations decline because school is out for the summer. Couple the drop off in donations with the potentially increased need for blood due to vehicle and recreational accidents and community blood supplies become stressed.

“Our long-standing relationship with Baskin-Robbins helps us maintain a safe and plentiful blood supply over the summer,” said BloodSource Director of Public Affairs Leslie Botos. “Everyone loves Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream!”

Giving blood is easy, safe and takes less than one hour To be a blood donor, you must be in generally good health, at least 17 years old (16 with parental consent) and weigh 110 pounds or more. There is no upper age limit for donating blood. A photo ID is required when registering to donate blood. To make an appointment or to find a mobile blood drive in your area, please call 866.822.5663.