Not everything in the new year can start out in a positive manner, but any of us can help making things better for someone else. In this case, I’m talking about actually helping out others, as the Red Cross is in great need of blood donations.
- Every two seconds, a patient in a United States hospital needs blood
- The Red Cross needs to collect 14,000 donations a day for all the patients
- You need to be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in generally good health in order to donate blood
- The Red Cross supplies about 40% of entire nation’s blood requirements
- Busy holiday schedules led to about 50,000 fewer donations
- January has been the National Blood Donor Month for over 50 years
Last year’s holiday season was a very difficult one for the United States Red Cross. Due to very busy holiday schedules, November and December brought 1,700 fewer blood drives than usual for that time of year, leaving hospitals about 50,000 donations short.
However, with January being the national blood donor month, doctors are expecting to see a rise in the average number of donations, and hopefully the blood shortage will go away.
Red Cross representatives talk about how a donor will most likely save someone’s life, as the short supplies are actually making it very difficult to provide the much needed life liquid to those in need.
And there is a very large number of those in need, as statistics say that nine in ten people all over the world will need blood at some point or another. And the only way to get blood is by donations, as there is no artificially created fluid that can substitute for it.
Especially this time of the year, hospitals and blood drives are in need of four major resources – blood, platelets, plasma, and red blood cells.
Each and every one of the four is a vital component in improving or even saving someone’s life. Of course, those with rarer blood types are those who are needed the most, as O, as well as A and B negative are the most vital.
That said, unless you have a crippling phobia of needles, go ahead and donate some blood. You might just save a life or two.
Image source: Pixabay
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.