Photo By Staff Sgt. Hope Geiger | Master Sgt. Melissa Hurst, the Comptroller Superintendent assigned to the 180th...... read more read more
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The American Red Cross hosted a blood drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Baker building on base. The Red Cross’s goal was to receive 27 units of donated blood and two double red cell donations.
Donations were sent to Cleveland, where they are tested and prepared for Hospitals, said, Kelly Chambers, a collections specialist.
With blood supply going down rapidly, the American Red Cross needs donations.
“We need blood donations,” said, Chambers. “We run out of blood really fast and we need to meet our goals every day. If we are short on our goals for even a week, we have a blood shortage.”
“Less than five percent of the population donates, so that is why the need is so great,” said Steven Nash, a specialist at the Red Cross.
When the Red Cross runs out of blood, they have to take blood from another area which may be further away from where the blood is needed, said Chambers.
“If there is medical emergency and we don’t have enough blood, it might take time to get blood from another area,” said Chambers. “That time could be crucial to the situation, so that is why it is very important for people to donate so we can keep our area stocked.”
Donations are used in many ways.
“Just one pint of blood we receive from one donor today saves three lives, but it is in three different components,” said Chambers. “It’s one unit of red blood cells, one unit of platelets, and one unit of plasma.”
The red blood cells are used for patients who lose lots of blood, platelets help clot blood and the plasma is used for blood transfusions, said Chambers. The donations are given to a variety of different patients for everything from terminal illness to trauma.
The personnel who donated are greatly appreciated, said Chambers.
Each person who donated, with their own motivations, helped keep up the blood supply and save three different lives in different situations. They are a part of the five percent.
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.15.2016 09:23 |
| Story ID: | 217771 |
| Location: | SWANTON, OH, US |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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