The
American Red Cross has an urgent need for blood and platelet donations to help
prevent a shortage of blood products this January. Hectic holiday schedules in November and December contributed to
about 1,700 fewer blood drives held, and 50,000 less donations collected, than
the two previous months.
Blood and platelet donors of all types in South Carolina are
needed to reverse the declining supply and help ensure blood products continue
to be available. A shortage can be averted if at
least two more donors – above what’s currently expected – come to donate at
every Red Cross blood drive in January.
On average, the Red Cross
must collect 14,000 blood and platelet donations every day for patients at
about 2,600 hospitals and transfusion centers across the country. Blood and
platelets are often needed to respond to emergencies large and small, including
the personal ones that occur in communities across the country every day
involving accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant
patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell
disease.
Eligible blood donors with types O, B negative and A negative
blood are encouraged to donate
double red cells where available. During a double red cell
donation, two units of red blood cells are collected while most of the plasma
and platelets are returned to the donor.
Make an
appointment now to help replenish the blood supply by downloading the Red Cross
Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.
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