BLOOD SERVICES
The High Point - Thomasville Chapter works closely with the Carolinas Blood
Services Region to help maintain a safe and adequate blood supply for 120+
hospitals in North Carolina.
The chapter helps identify local organizations and companies that will host
blood drives at their facilities, provides volunteers and canteen supplies to
support the drive.
The region provides professional nursing staff and equipment to conduct blood
collection at the drive.
 The
donation process takes about an hour. A brief registration and history
intake is conducted, you receive a mini-physical, and then you relax on a
donation bed for a few minutes. A nurse inserts a needle into your arm and
allows your blood to flow into a sterile collection bag. Enough additional
blood is saved into small vials to be used for the testing process. Your
blood is tested 12 times, following procedures outlined by the FDA.
Afterwards, you spend a few minutes sitting, eating snacks and drinking juice.
Most people return immediately to work or play. Some donors take the
remainder of the day to rest and relax. Within 24 hours, your body has
completely replaced the fluid loss of a single pint of blood. Within 2
months, your body has replaced the red blood cells. You'll never miss it.
The whole process takes place in a clean and sanitary environment. Each
needle and bag is used only once. You CANNOT catch a blood-borne disease
from donating your own blood. After 8 weeks, you are eligible to donate
again.
Once your blood is cleared for use, it is made available to hospitals that order
what they need for emergencies and scheduled surgeries. There is no charge
for the unit of blood. The blood itself is a donated product. There
are however costs to collect, test, and distribute each unit of blood.
These costs are charged to the hospital, which then charges the patient.
The patient's insurance normally covers the complete cost of the use of blood
and blood products.
The Red Cross uses every appropriate test prescribed by the FDA to ensure the
blood that is made available to hospitals and patients is safe. But, the
only way to ensure a safe and adequate supply of blood is for healthy donors to
donate blood. The basic requirements are quite simple:
- You must be at least 17 years old.
- You must weigh at least 110 pounds.
- You must be in generally good health
If that's you, please consider donating blood at the next drive
convenient to you. See the blood drive schedule in the Spotlight
section above.
Thank you for giving the Gift of Life!
What is Apheresis?
Apheresis, an increasingly common procedure, is the
process of removing a specific component of the blood, such as
platelets, and returning the remaining components, such as red blood
cells and plasma, to the donor. This process allows more of one
particular part of the blood to be collected than could be separated
from a unit of whole blood. Apheresis is also performed to collect red
blood cells, plasma (liquid part of the blood), and granulocytes (white
blood cells).
The apheresis donation procedure takes
longer than that for whole blood donation. A whole blood donation takes
about 10–20 minutes to collect the blood, while an apheresis donation
may take about one to two hours.
Who needs blood?
The need for blood is great — on any
given day, an average of 38,000 units of red blood cells is needed.
Blood transfusions often are needed for trauma victims — due to
accidents and burns — heart surgery, organ transplants, and patients
receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or other diseases, such as
sickle cell disease and thalassemia. NBDRC reports that in 2001, nearly
29 million units of blood components were transfused. Moreover, with an
aging population and advances in medical treatments and procedures
requiring blood transfusions, the demand for blood continues to
increase.
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Blood Services
