Bob Tomaszewski
Staff Writer
Heartland Blood Center was thirsty for blood. The goal of the Heartland Blood Center on September 30 was to obtain 31 donors. At 1:33 p.m. they already had 23 donors, according to Kelly Van De Mark a representative from the blood center. She was confident that, with such a quick early pace, they would meet their goal. The blood center visits the campus three times a year, since people are advised to donate every 56 days.
“The need is great,” said Van De Mark.
When asked if getting a flu vaccine before donating blood is an issue, she said that it doesn’t have an impact. She doesn’t recommend donating blood directly after getting a vaccine, in case a reaction occurs after or while donating blood.
The process of donating takes 45 minutes, and the benefits are numerous. The need is especially great for double red blood cells, which are important for heart surgeries. Twelve hospitals just joined the network. Elexian Brothers is the most recent addition to the 59-hospital network. The Heartland Blood Center is the sole provider of all 59 hospitals in the area, a huge undertaking, according to Kelly. Edwards Hospital is one of their biggest customers and uses approximately 4,000 units of blood a year.
Among the people who donated double red blood cells is freshman Kevin Ross. He did not originally plan on donating blood, but he saw the signs outside of White Activities Center and followed them.
“I haven’t done it before and was curious,” said Ross.
The Blood Center will be back at North Central on January 20th, 2015.
