Another successful blood drive in McIntosh

The McIntosh Friends of Veteran's hosted a blood drive with Vitalant on Monday,  January 20 at the McIntosh Community Center which helped collect a total of 36 units of blood products for patients in need.

A total of 43 individuals volunteered to donate blood and 30 individuals were able to successfully donate at the Vitalant blood drive on January 20. A total of three donors also came forward to donate Power Red Cells (2RBC) which collects two units of red blood cells while returning platelets, plasma and a saline solution back to the donor. There were 2 donors who volunteered for their first time. 

Vitalant expressed their gratitude to Mary Goodwin, who coordinated the drive, and McIntosh Friends of Veterans which sponsored the blood drive, as well as all the donors who came out to donate.

One thing we are sure of, is that the need for blood never ceases. Blood is only useable for 42 days, so a constant supply is always needed, no matter the season. Winter has challenges with the threat of weather/ travel and planning, but the winter weather is no wonderland for hospital patients who depend on blood to keep them healthy and alive.

There are other blood drives coming to the area. Please seek out upcoming events by searching by zip code at donors.vitalant.org.

Those who haven't given for many years, please look at giving blood again, as many of the qualifications have changes. 

One of the recent changes issued in 2022, those who have spent time in France, Ireland or the United Kingdom are no longer permanently deferred from donating blood due to rist of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, also known as mad cow disease).

Donors can make a convenient appointment to give blood at www.donors.vitalant.org or by calling 877-25-VITAL. With each donation, donors receive a free total cholesterol test and earn reward points.

Blood donation takes about an hour from check-in to refreshments, while the blood draw typically taking less than 10 minutes.

Donors can save about 20 minutes by completing their Health History Questionnaire the day they donate on www.vitalant.org/health.