BY: Jeannine Reszel
Thank you! BloodCenter of Wisconsin would like to express its sincere gratitude to its blood donors for saving the day for patients in need in our community and beyond.
Our community relies on the generosity and dedication of volunteer donors to ensure that lifesaving blood is available to hospitals when it is needed. We often do not think about donating blood until it touches us – our loved ones or someone close to us, but the need for blood is constant and the need for donors is an even bigger issue. In as little as one hour, you can become someone’s hero. Saving a life is noble work that starts very simply and easily. Donating blood is safe, easy and quick; however, less than 5% of those eligible to donate blood actually do.
“All of the blood products transfused at Beaver Dam Community Hospital are provided by BloodCenter of Wisconsin,” says lab manager Dave Held who witnesses this lifesaving work daily, lifesaving work that would not be possible without the generosity of volunteer blood donors. “Every day I see the impact that the donors in our community have on our patients.”
If just one family member or friend of every patient donated blood, think of how many thousands of people would be donating – and could help to save patients like Mason, who was born 15 weeks premature and needed six blood transfusions during his three-month hospital stay because his tiny body could not produce enough blood. Mason is doing well today and his parents, Cindy and Kevin, think it is fabulous what BloodCenter of Wisconsin does to help the community. They were blood donors before their son was born and love donating because it is for a good cause.
Donors can save the day for patients in need by making different types of blood donations. A whole blood donation is the most frequent type of blood donation. In whole blood donation, all components of the blood including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are collected. One unit of blood, roughly equivalent to a pint, is typically collected from a donor. The entire process, from check-in to cookies and juice, usually takes about an hour. Donors can safely give whole blood every 56 days.
Red cells are the most frequently used blood component during transfusions. A double red cell donation is very much like a whole blood donation, but a special machine is used to collect two units of red blood cells from one qualified donor in one visit. Unlike a whole blood donation, donors give only red blood cells, not the plasma component. During this donation, donors actually give a lower volume of blood from their bodies than with a whole blood donation and receive fluid replacements during the donation. Donors can safely donate dual red cells every 112 days. The process usually takes 75 minutes to complete.
BloodCenter of Wisconsin, part of Versiti, is widely acclaimed as one of the top transfusion medicine organizations in the world and a leader in diagnostic testing of blood, blood research, and blood collection. BloodCenter is also the exclusive provider of blood to 56 Wisconsin hospitals in 29 counties including Dodge County. For more information, visit www.bloodcenter.com
Someone in our community will need blood today. Every three seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. A child battling sickle cell disease. A grandfather undergoing open-heart surgery. A co-worker injured in a car accident. Please help save the day for patients in need by donating blood. You can visit the website www.bcw.edu/beaverdam or call 877-BE-A-HERO (877-232-4376) to schedule an appointment and learn more about the donation process.
