Have you ever donated blood? I’ve always known the importance of blood donation and often attended blood drives in my community, but it wasn’t until my own mother had to have a blood transfusion that I truly felt the impact of blood donation. There’s never enough donated blood, and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that hospitals and blood centers have an abundance of blood; you always hear there is a need and drives are held frequently. How many times have you stopped in a blood drive location this year? The average healthy person can donate blood about 6 times per year, which comes out to approximately every 56 days. If all healthy, donation-abled people donated blood 6 times a year, maybe blood centers would never run out! Since one blood donation can benefit up to 3 people, you can save 18 lives a year just by donating blood!
Did you know every 2 seconds someone in the United States needs a transfusion of donated blood? For some reason, blood donation drops 20% in the summer months, and since 1 in 7 people entering a hospital needs a blood transfusion, we need to get ahead of those blood drives and make an effort to help stock blood centers. There is detailed information on who can and cannot donate blood, which can be accessed by visiting Community Blood Services.
Have you been impacted in any way by blood donation? Now I make it a point to donate blood as frequently as my schedule allows – just as the people who donated their blood that saved my mother’s life. If you are in the NY/NJ area, look into Community Blood Services to find a convenient location near you to donate blood. You can also follow Community Blood Services on Facebook and Twitter @cbsblood to stay in the loop on local blood drives and information in your area.
