Need for Blood Donors
Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood and or platelets, according to the American Red Cross.
All year round, yet, especially during the holiday season, blood donation becomes more critical, according to Kristen Pelzer, Versiti’s Public and Media Relations Organizer for the local blood center in Naperville.
She says one reason for the downward trend in blood donations this winter is due to schools and facilities being closed for the holidays.
A single-car accident victim may require as many as 100 units of blood, says the American Red Cross.
The Blood To Donation
According to Pelzer, “All blood donors are welcome and encouraged to come in.” Blood types like O-positive and O-negative are most in demand. O-positive is the most common blood type, while O-negative blood is the universal type that can be received safely by all patients in emergencies when the blood type is unknown.
“We also have a pretty significant need for platelet donors,” continued Pelzer. Platelets are a component of blood, and those platelets are used for cancer patients and other treatments. Typically donating blood takes about an hour, with the actual donation itself about 15 minutes. Platelets are a two-hour process because they separate components of blood. “So our platelet donors are incredibly dedicated. They come in every two weeks. So when the weather hits that, they have to cancel. It’s such a small group of people that it has an immediate impact on the supply”, says Pelzer.
To Find More Information
To help motivate people to donate, Versiti created the Drive To Save Car Sweepstakes.
We had four winners in each of our states, and so we’re excited to offer that up again this year, especially as we know cars are hard to come by, says Pelzer.”
To donate blood and be entered in the sweepstakes, go to www.verstit.org.
Naperville News 17’s Marcel Francis reports.
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