1 Pint of Blood Can Save Up to 3 Lives
Every 56 days or so I will find the nearest Red Cross blood bank/blood drive and give a pint of blood. Unfortunately after a trip to the Dominican Republic I was benched for a year due to the possibility of contracting malaria. When I was able to donate again, I decided to postpone it due to my bike trip; I was going to need all the red blood cells I could get to pedal over 4000 miles to the West Coast.
Today I headed out to a local drive and after being checked in I got a new phlebotomist. Needless to say my needle stick missed the first time and after several minutes my vein had hardened before I could donate my full pint of blood. Now dear reader don't let this scare you off. Of all my donations, this was the first bad experience I have had - if your person does not look too confident you can always ask for someone else.
Here are some fun facts:
- Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood
- More than 44,000 blood donations are needed every day
- The number of blood donations collected in the U.S. in a year: 16 million (2006)
- Share of the U.S. population eligible to give blood: Less than 38 percent
Ready to take the plunge and get stuck? Check out the American Association of Blood Banks website to find a place to donate near you.
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