Red Cross: Blood Donations Needed Immediately

The need for blood donations across the United States is extremely high. American Red Cross (ARC), has donated blood to millions of patients in need throughout the country.

Donating blood is a fairly complex process on the medical side, but when it comes to donating, it is really quite simple. There are certain eligibility requirements, such as “being healthy and feeling well” and being at least 17 years of age in most US states. For women who are donating, they must be at least 5’5” tall and 150lbs, whereas males must be minimally 5’1” and weight at least 130lbs. Certain centers have different and more specific requirements. However, if you choose to donate, be prepared to have a brief discussion and medical examination simply to ensure your eligibility.

There are five steps that occur during the process of blood donation. The first step is donation. After blood is donated, the American Red Cross team processes it, tests it and then stores it. After it has been properly processed, tested, and stored, it is ready for distribution: and that’s where helping patients in need comes into play.

Blood donations help people in a variety of ways. An average adult has roughly 10 pints of blood in his or her body and is able to donate up to 1 pint. Red blood cells can also be donated. The ARC cites that each and every single day in the United States, 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed. Every two seconds in the US there is a person who medically requires a blood transfusion.

Here is an example of just how much donating blood can mean when it comes to saving a life. Just one car accident, one time, can cause such severe injuries to the driver that he or she could require up to 100 pints of blood through transfusions. Healthy ARC donors are typically allowed to donate 1 pint of blood within a certain time period. Without 100 people who have willingly donated blood, the car accident victim would have little to no recourse to a safe and medically-necessary transfusion, one that could, and very likely would, save their life.

So we here ask you to please consider, if you are eligible, donating blood or red blood cells to the American Red Cross (ARC). To find out how and where you can donate blood, please visit the American Red Cross website. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been helped by people like you and the ARC already, and now we hope to continue in this tradition of providing help to those who are in need.

The Philadelphia attorneys at Galfand Berger can help answer your questions. With offices located in Philadelphia, Reading and Bethlehem, we serve clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. To schedule a consultation, call us at 800-222-8792 or complete our online contact form.