The blizzard we are now experiencing can have a devastating impact on a lot more than just safe driving and power outages. It becomes incredibly disruptive to maintaining an adequate blood supply that translates to saving lives.
Today, all Rhode Island Blood Center blood drives and donor centers are closed, and it’s a fair guess that as we clean up from this immense snowstorm, few people will put blood donation as their first priority.
But to those in a hospital bed or emergency room, having adequate blood supplies readily available is not only a first priority, but sometimes the difference between life and death.
For over a decade, I worked at the Rhode Island Blood Center in communications, learning firsthand the importance of having adequate blood supplies available, and the difficulty in maintaining those levels when weather and other events make it difficult to recruit donors.
From that experience alone, I urge anyone capable of donating blood to consider taking an hour out of their day tomorrow or Wednesday to donate, helping assure someone a chance at life.
In the United States, only 3 percent of the eligible donor population donates blood, according to America’s Blood Centers. That means that 97 percent of eligible donors don’t. America’s Blood Centers says 62 percent of the United States population is eligible to donate blood.
Because blood products have a short shelf life – particularly platelets – snowstorms and other disruptions can be devastating.
Consider:
- Platelets, essential for blood clotting, have a shelf life of five days. And are used in cancer treatment, organ transplants, and to stop active bleeding, among its uses.
- Red cells, which have a shelf life of 42 days, are often used to treat severe anemia, chronic blood loss and blood loss during surgery.
- Frozen plasma has a shelf life of a year and is the liquid component of blood. It is used by burn victims, shock, and bleeding disorders.
While there have been considerable advances in medicine, they have yet to perfect a way of manufacturing blood and platelets.
According to the Red Cross the average red blood cell transfusion is approximately three units; a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.
The Rhode Island Blood Center operates several donor centers and holds blood drives across the region. The Aquidneck Donor Center is located at 688 Aquidneck Ave., Middletown. Other donor centers in Rhode Island are in Providence, Narragansett, Warwick, and Woonsocket.
To learn about the donor center hours, or to make an appointment to donate, visit the blood center’s website at ribc.org.