Students should donate to save lives
“Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood,” according to the Red Cross.
Sometimes, blood is needed for a one-time emergency. “A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood,” says the American Red Cross. Other times, one patient may need blood transfusions regularly. Cancer patients may need blood transfusions daily during chemotherapy.
While it may seem that one blood donation is just a drop in the bucket of need, the American Red Cross states that one donation can help save up to three lives: “There are four types of transfusable products that can be derived from blood: red cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. Typically, two or three of these are produced from a pint of donated whole blood – hence each donation can help save up to three lives.”
We The Threefold believe that blood donation is a positive way to promote health and life to those in need.
“The number one reason donors say they give blood is because they ‘want to help others,’” according to redcrossblood.org. “Two most common reasons cited by people who don’t give blood are: ‘Never thought about it’ and ‘I don’t like needles.’”
“Community Blood Center of the Ozarks has issued a CODE YELLOW ALERT for O Negative and B Negative blood types. A Code Yellow Alert means that there is less than a two day reserve supply of blood for use by area patients,” says the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO) website. The CBCO urges eligible donors to give this week.
Today, Thursday Oct. 1, John Brown University is hosting a blood drive in the Walton Lifetime Health Complex Wellness Lab. We The Threefold encourage all students, faculty, staff and community members who are able to donate blood to do so regularly, whether today or in the future. According to the University calendar, the next blood drive on campus will take place on Jan. 21, 2016.