In the United States, the need for blood donation is very high. As the country with the third largest population in the entire world, someone in the US needs blood as often as every two seconds!
Check out some of these ways that blood donations are used to improve people’s health and even save their lives:
• Trauma patients often need blood, particularly red blood cells, when they lose it due to accidents, injuries and more.
• Cancer patients need blood donations because chemotherapy and radiation treatments suppress bone marrow making it difficult for them to produce their own healthy blood cells.
• Sickle Cell patients have a disease that produces red blood cells that don’t work properly and regular blood transfusions are often needed to keep them alive and reduce their pain.
• Patients who are in a burn unit may need blood transfusion due to surgery, blood loss, decreased red blood cells or they may also need plasma.
And to wrap up…. Here are some Facts about Blood Needs:
• A Single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.
• One donation can help save more than one life.
• Blood and platelets cannot be manufactured; they can only come from volunteer donors.
• The blood type most often requested by hospitals is type O.
Coming next month: Heart Health and Hearing Loss