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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2006
DAYTON, OH — (Monday, July 24, 2006) Community Blood Center (CBC) wishes to thank all those who responded in support of its emergency appeal for donors issued two weeks ago today. While the emergency appeal is over, an urgent need for blood donors remains. The area blood supply is 494 (12%) red cell pints low. Over the weekend, CBC registered 677 donors and collected 536 usable pints of blood. Area patients used 589 pints including 11 O+ red cell pints for a trauma patient.
The blood types needed most now are types O+ (13% low), O- (17% low) and A+ (24% low).
“Six weeks of summer remain prior to Labor Day,” stated Judith Woll, M.D., CBC Chief Executive Officer. “We need about 335 pints of donated blood each day in order to avoid another blood emergency this summer. Red cells only have a 42 day shelf life. The blood collected in the past two weeks will be used up prior to Labor Day weekend and yet those donors will not be eligible to give again until after the holiday. Additional donors are needed to keep the blood supply at safe and adequate levels for the rest of the summer.”
CBC urges healthy donors who have not given a pint of whole blood in the past two months to donate blood at this time. Donors need to bring a photo ID with their full name and their Social Security Number.
Donors must be at least 17 years of age, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions are invited to email canidonate@cbccts.org or call 1-800-388-GIVE. Prospective donors with recent tattoos obtained in Kentucky or Ohio can now give blood as long as the tattoo area has healed and the procedure was done in a licensed tattoo parlor.
Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is registered to ISO 9001:2000. Community Blood Center provides blood products to 25 hospitals in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys. For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services, visit www.cbccts.org.
Please call the center nearest you to make an appointment.
Copyright 2005 Community Blood Center
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