Blood drive offers opportunity to celebrate life

By Staff
From staff reports
Residents from across Franklin County will have the opportunity to celebrate life by joining in the community blood drive from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Thursday, April 13, at Belgreen High School.
It takes 125 blood donations every day to meet the needs of area patients and to be ready for emergencies.
Each blood donation can help several patients. Every untied of donated blood is sent to the United Blood Services laboratory for testing and processing.
Laboratory technicians separate the whole blood into components, including red blood cells, plasma and cryoprecipitate.
Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body and donated red blood cells are used for surgery patients. Plasma contains vital blood clotting factors. Cryoprecipitate is a special blood clotting factor concentrate that helps control massive bleeding in surgical and trauma cases.
Another blood component, platelets, is vital for cancer and leukemia patients undergoing chemotherapy.
While individual components are transfused for specific medical needs, a patient with serious injury may require several different components.
The blood donated at Belgreen High School will help save the lives of patients in Russellville Hospital and 21 other hospitals throughout the area.
Donors must be at least 17, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health. People who wish to donate during the blood drive may schedule an appointment by calling (662) 842.8871 or logging on to www.UnitedBloodServices.org.
United Blood Services has been this area's non-profit community blood provider since 1968, and serves patients in 22 hospitals in Northwest Alabama and North Mississippi. The UBS network is one of the nation's oldest and largest non-profit blood service organizations, and is a founding member of America's Blood Centers and the American Association of Blood Banks.
Here are some answers to a few frequently asked questions about donating blood.