Blood donors must be at least 17, 110 pounds and in good general health.
For an appointment or details on blood drives in your area,
Call 1-800-GIVE LIFE or visit www.givelife.org
Click Here to visit the Great Lakes Blood Services Region's Website.

View the Blood Drive Schedule
View the current LIFELines Newsletter
Holiday leaves Red Cross in dire need for blood donors
--American Red Cross urges donors to give to strengthen blood supply--

September 2, 2008 - LANSING, MICH. — While the holiday weekend provided many people time for fun and relaxation, it did not provide sufficient blood donations to an already depleted community blood supply.

“The Labor Day holiday weekend cut nearly 1,000 blood donations that we would normally collect during a four-day time period.,” says CEO Sharon Jaksa of the Great Lakes Blood Services Region. “It’s critical that eligible donors take the time to give blood. There simply is no source for blood other than a healthy volunteer donor.”

The Region, which provides blood products to patients in about 70 Michigan hospitals, has just over a two-day supply of all blood, and extremely low levels of Type O. A three-day supply is considered adequate for meeting ongoing and emergency needs, with five days considered optimal.

The Red Cross needs about 279 units of O-negative blood to treat patients every day in the 70 hospitals it serves. Today, the Region reports just 164 units of Type O-negative available.

Thirty-eight percent of the United States population has type O-positive blood. It is the most common of all blood types, and about 84 percent of the population can receive it.
Only seven percent of the population is O-negative, but it is the “universal donor”, meaning people of all blood types can receive type O-negative red blood cells.

“Shortages of Type O can be very dangerous,” says Jaksa. “Type O-negative is the blood transfused in the majority of emergency situations when a person’s blood type isn’t known.”

Type O-negative is critical to emergency and trauma care, but all blood types are needed to help save patients’ lives. The Red Cross asks eligible donors to give blood in the next two weeks to build the supply across the state.

Blood donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, be in good general health. Eligible donors are asked to call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit www.redcrossmichigan.org to find a drive.

September 4, 2008, Bethany Christian Reformed Church, 11 East 32nd St., Holland, 12:00 PM - 5:45
September 4, 2008, First Baptist Church, 118 E. Exchange St., Spring Lake, 12:00 PM - 5:45 PM
September 5, 2008, Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church, 3617 Hillcrest Road, Hudsonville,
11:30 AM - 5:15 PM
September 5, 2008, Holland Fire Station 1, 131 Riley St., Holland, 10:00 AM - 3:45 PM
September 8, 2008, Second Reformed Church, 1000 Waverly, Grand Haven, 1:00 PM - 6:45 PM
September 9, 2008, Second Reformed Church, 1000 Waverly, Grand Haven, 12:00 PM - 5:45 PM
September 10, 2008, American Red Cross, 270 James St., Holland, 11:30 AM - 5:15 PM
September 12, 2008, Hope College Maas Center, 264 Columbia Ave., Holland, 12:00 PM - 5:45 PM
September 18, 2008, Holland Fire Station, 1 131 Riley St., Holland, 1:00 PM - 6:45 PM
September 20, 2008, Park Church, 1496 W. 32nd St., Holland, 10:00 AM - 3:45 PM

Red Cross Urges Year Round Blood Donations

Every two seconds, someone in America needs blood. The Red Cross must collect blood donations each and every day to meet the needs of accident victims, cancer patients and children with blood disorders, and the organization works to accomplish this through its Blood Services regions. The American Red Cross collects more than 6 million units a year from volunteer donors, and provides almost half of the nation's blood supply to 3,000 hospitals through its national network of Blood Services regions. To donate blood, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit www.givelife.org for more information.
To learn about blood drives in your area, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.
Blood donors must be at least 17, weigh 110 pounds, and be in good general health.


The American Red Cross Blood Services Program

For more than 50 years, the American Red Cross has been an innovator and a leader in transfusion medicine and research. The American Red Cross saves and enhances thousands of lives every day as the nation's largest supplier of blood, plasma and tissue products. Through voluntary donations, the American Red Cross supplies almost half of the nation's blood and 20 percent of tissue for transplantation. Our national research program makes significant contributions to biomedical science, blood safety, plasma-derived therapeutics and transfusion technology. American Red Cross Biomedical Services is a leader in the health care community and has embraced technological innovation and high-quality business practices to better meet the Red Cross mission of saving and enhancing lives. The safety and availability of our blood, plasma and tissue products is our highest priority.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


For more information contact the Great Lakes Blood Services Region at:
1-800-968-4283

To find a blood drive near you today please call the chapter office.