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Editorial
Donors answer call, but Red Cross always needs more
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Find yourself in an emergency room, and you have every reason to believe you will be taken care of.
That includes receiving a safe transfusion of blood, if you need one.
But that blood doesn't just magically appear; most likely it is a result of a concerted, coordinated effort by the American Red Cross, employees, volunteers and blood donors alike.
It takes special effort to make sure that blood is available during January and February, when supplies are chronically low because of the weather, holidays, or whatever reason.
It probably didn't hurt that we had an unusually warm winter, but donors at several local blood drives rolled up their sleeves in response to the Red Cross call for communities and organizations to exceed their donation goals by 10 percent.
The organization recognized them by highlighting them in a special USA Today advertisement in March, Red Cross Month.
Those who collected at least 110 percent of their blood drive goals during the Everyday campaign included Arapahoe High School, Chase County High School in Imperial, the Benkelman community, the McCook community and Community Hospital in McCook.
But now is not the time to rest on our laurels.
Approximately every two seconds, a patient in the United States needs a blood transfusion. Just like the emergency room in a hospital, the Red Cross needs to be prepared to respond to these patient emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Each year, 3.5 million volunteers donate more than six million pints of blood through the Red Cross to help save lives.
The organization's "Everyday" promotion recognizes volunteers, blood sponsors and the donors they recruited.
Here are some upcoming opportunities to donate:
Thursday, April 19, noon-6 p.m., Maywood High School.
Thursday, April 19, noon to 6 p.m., St. Catherine's Hall, Indianola.
Tuesday, April 24, 12:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday, April 25, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Red Willow County Fairgrounds community building, McCook.
Thursday, April 26, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Southern Valley High School.
All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver's license, or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.
Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.
Call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or for more information.