January is National Blood Donor Awareness Month
The winter months are the lowest for blood donations. Bad weather and illness keep people from donating, and even disrupt Red Cross members from pick up of donations. January has been reserved as National Blood Donation Month since 1970 with the goal to increase donation numbers during these difficult months.
There is no substitute for blood
4.5 million people will need blood transfusions each year. Patients battling cancer/other conditions, surgery patients, victims of accidents and violence contribute to this number. 1 in 7 people who enter a hospital will need blood. There is no synthetic alternative to blood, and it is necessary for survival.
Someone needs blood every 2 seconds
Factors such as age, weight, and health history can make a person ineligible to donate. It is estimated that 38% of the U.S population is eligible to donate blood but less than 10% do. When non-donors were asked why they don’t donate, 17% said they had never thought about it and 15% said they were too busy. Donation time is about 10 minutes. In total the process only takes about an hour.
330,145,544
This is the population of the United States as of December 16th, 2019. If 1% of Americans would commit to donating blood, blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future. That breaks down to 66,000 people per state donating blood. This would be just a little more than everyone in Manhattan Kansas donating. Looking at the big picture, that is not that many people.
Schedule a Donation Appointment of Blood Drive
You can schedule an appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, going to redcrossblood.org, or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. Any company, community organization, place of worship, or individual can contact their local chapter to set up a blood drive. For Marshall County the number is 316-219-4000. You can also visit redcrossblood.org and select Host a Blood Drive at the top of the page.
It starts with one person. One person can save up to 3 lives. Give the gift of life by donating.
Sources:
https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2018/Celebrate-National-Blood-Donor-Month-this-January-and-Help-Save-a-Life.html
http://givingblood.org/about-blood/blood-facts.aspx
https://www.redcrossblood.org/