McIntosh Blood Drive will be Jan. 30th

 The McIntosh Blood Drive will be held on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at the Community Center in McIntosh.  The McIntosh Friends of Veterans is sponsoring this annual event.

There will be three people that will call people on the list that is received from the Fargo Blood Center. More information will be in the McIntosh Times for the next several weeks.

Walk-ins will be welcome but if you have an appointment, a person  won't have to wait as long.  Treats, coffee and juice will be served to donors.

United Blood Services went through a nationwide rebranding in September 2018 and are now called Vitalant. We are the same people, serving patients in the same 70 area hospitals with the same mission of saving lives! 

At this time, we have an *URGENT* need for all blood types and first time blood donors. Those who have never donated before do not need to know their blood type and are encouraged to look over our “common misconceptions” list. There may have been a reason (medication, travel or medical condition) in the past that deferred them, and with all of the recent changes, many of those may now be eligible! A few that come to mind are medications, with most of them now being acceptable. Also, those who have battled cancer in the past, most cancer survivors are now able to donate again (after 1 year of their last treatment and no known reoccurrence). Please call our donor eligibility line with questions at 1-877-25-VITAL. 

The blood drive is scheduled for Wednesday, January 30th from 12:00-5:15pm at the McIntosh Community Center. And 70 blood donors are needed to help meet local patient needs in the weeks to come. 

Did you know that most of us will either know of someone or be on the receiving end of a blood transfusion at some point in our lives, and unfortunately that is most often something we cannot plan for. It is the blood on the shelf at the local blood bank that saves lives when a preemie is born, a tragedy occurs or when someone is going through cancer treatment. 

Please consider rolling up your sleeve to help someone in need…just think, it could be someone you know!

Preparing for 

your blood donation

What if we told you an hour of your time could change someone's life? It can. In the time it takes you to read this page, nearly 100 people will receive life saving transfusions. By taking just an hour or so to donate, you will do something wonderful.

Before you roll up your sleeve to help someone else, please take care of yourself:

Eat a healthy, low-fat meal within two hours of your donation. The day before, eat a salty snack. When you donate blood, you lose about a gram of salt. Relacing it ahead of time helps keep your blood pressure normal.

Hyfrate by drinking 8 to 16 ounces of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic beverages one hour before you donate. Water is a great choice.

Avoid/Limit caffienated sodas, coffee, iced tea and energy drinks on the day of donation.

We are grateful to have you join togehter and do something amazing to change people's lives.

Bring your Identification with you so we know you're you. Something with your name and one of the following: date of birth, donor ID number or your photo.