THE RED CROSS COMES TO MHCC

January is National Blood Donor Month, and the American National Red Cross hosted a blood drive at MHCC on Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 27-28.

Donating blood is an honorable thing to do, and the Mt. Hood event drew more than six dozen participants.

The final numbers, from Beth St. James, account manager for the Red Cross: 73 donors who came to the Student Union produced 60 units of blood (13 donors were “deferred”), enough to help 180 hospital patients. (Each pint of blood donated can be used for up to three people.)

While first-time donors may have some anxiety, the process is pretty simple. Donors are checked in, and their health history is taken – including vital signs at the time – to make sure they have sufficient iron, blood pressure, etc.

It takes 8-12 minutes to collect a pint of blood, St. James said.

Afterward, snacks/beverages are supplied, including water, to help replenish calories and fluids.

MHCC donors also were offered a free T-shirt for contributing.

Some important rules, per the Red Cross, for anyone interested in donating in the future:

A donor must be at least 17 years old (or age 16, with parental consent) and weigh at least 110 pounds.

Any healthy person can donate blood after waiting at least 56 days, the time needed to replenish blood levels in the donor’s body.

A leading benefit administrator and healthcare risk management company, BRMS (Benefit and Risk Management Services) also presents this interesting information in their blog: 

• 5 million: the number of Americans that need a blood transfusion each year

• 43,000 pints: the amount of donated blood used each day in the U.S. and Canada

• Someone needs blood every 2 seconds

• Only 37 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood

• There are health benefits to donating blood, such as good health; reduced risk of cancer and hemochromatosis; reducing the risk of damage to the liver and pancreas; improved cardiovascular health; and obesity reduction.