Red Cross has urgent need for blood and platelet donations

“I think some friends of mine donated, so I got started”, said the 62-year-old, who has become a regular donor in the past couple of years. Donors who wish to give blood while experiencing flu-like symptoms will be deferred from donating, according to the American Red Cross website. “It’s like volunteering somewhere”.

The agency is in urgent need of blood donations to prevent a shortage this winter.

In November and December, there were about 1,700 fewer blood drives held than in the previous two months, according to a Red Cross news release.

“We’ve never been out of blood”, says Allison Beers, public relations coordinator for Michigan Blood, which has a donation and distribution center in Traverse City. But not everyone knows centers are there.

“This is an important blood drive”, local Red Cross representative Gerry Abejuro said. Of those, 20 percent come from drives at high schools and college campuses during the academic year.

“Blood donations helped extend his fight and gave us more time to spend with him”, Nehring said.

Red blood cells have a shelf life of only 42 days and platelets five days, so they must constantly be replenished.

“That’s used primarily for traumas and surgeries, for oncology patients and especially… small babies”, Dr. Long said.

More than 50 people showed up at 38th and Dewey for the “Joyce Cancer Warriors Blood Drive”.

In other words, there’s not enough blood to satisfy the needs of patients in hospitals in the near future.

January is National Blood Donor Month – and also marks the time of year when the American Red Cross needs blood and platelet donations more than ever.

They need 1000 units of both whole blood and platelets each month.

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“Although my physical feelings weren’t affected too much, after donating, I felt really great about making the donation and the good that it might cause (and) the lives that it might save”, Cullerton said.