The need for blood and platelet donors is always an issue in Iowa and the nation, but the demand for donated blood products can be particularly high this time of year.
Paula Dayton, donor recruitment coordinator for the DeGowin Blood Center in University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, has these comments:
How much donated blood and platelets are needed at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on a daily basis?
Every day at UI Hospitals and Clinics, approximately 90 blood products are needed an average of about 600 blood products per week.
When you're talking blood products, it's not only blood, but the components of blood as well.
When a patient requires a transfusion, they need a specific component of the blood. They may require a platelet transfusion, a red cell transfusion, a plasma transfusion, or a combination of all of those.
How much of that need is met by donors who donate in the DeGowin blood Center?
The DeGowin Blood Center is nearly self-sufficient when it comes to our platelet collections. DeGowin collected a little more than half of the red cells required for transfusion needs for our patients.
What factors affect the donated blood supply this time of year?
There are several factors that affect the blood supply this time of year, and one is the cold and flu season. Donors are not allowed to donate until they are five days free of cold and flu symptoms and that is for the safety of the donor, as well as for the patient who would receive that blood.
Another reason is that people are busy preparing for the holidays, so they might not think of fitting their blood donation into the schedule. DeGowin also relies very heavily on the University community. Students and faculty are busy at the end of the semester, and then they leave town. If you throw in some bad weather, you can see how difficult it can be to keep up with the patient demand. So this is the time of year we really need people to step up and help because the patient need does not decrease.
What are you doing special this holiday season for donors who take the time out of their busy schedules this time of year to donate blood or platelets?
We're offering a really fun, long-sleeved, white T-shirt to all, who donate during December. That includes all of our community blood drives as well as at the DeGowin Blood Center. It has a reindeer on the front with colored ornaments shaped like blood drops hanging from its antlers and it's fun and just says, "Everybody Loves a Blood Donner," kind of a play on words for Blood Donor.
Where can people reach the DeGowin Blood Center to sign up to donate or to learn more?
To sign up for a time to donate, they can call the DeGowin Blood Center at 356-2058. Take elevator B to the second level.
They can also sign up for one of our many blood drives on our Web site. There's also more information on our Web site, the hours of our center, about other promotions that we have going on, and information about blood donations and transfusions.
How long do you have to wait between times of donating blood or platelets?
You need to wait eight weeks between a whole blood donation and another whole blood donation. If you are a regular platelet donor and you're not donating red cells, you can donate every four weeks as a platelet donor. It's quick, it's easy, and it's painless. |
