Rotary supported the Red Cross Blood Drive in Rupert, May 10, 2010.
The Red Cross was founded on the simple idea of neighbors helping neighbors in time of need. The Red Cross brings more than 50 years of blood collection and transfusion experience, deep community connections and a network of nationwide resources.
Each year the Red Cross sponsors blood drives in our community to support the ever-growing need for blood. Here are some interesting facts about the Red Cross Blood services.
* Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood.
* More than 38,000 blood donations are needed every day.
* A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S. (2006).
* The average red blood cell transfusion is approximately 3 pints.
* The blood type most often requested by hospitals is Type O.
* The blood used in an emergency is already on the shelves before the event occurs.
* Sickle cell disease affects more than 80,000 people in the U.S., 98 percent of whom are African American. Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives.
* More than 1 million new people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
* A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood.
* The American Red Cross blood program started in 1940, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Drew.
* The American Red Cross supplies approximately 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply.
* The Red Cross provides blood for patients in nearly 3,000 hospitals across the U.S.
* The Red Cross makes blood available to any patient who needs it — patients are not required to find donors to replace the blood they use (a practice common in Europe and some U.S. blood banks) allowing the patient and their family to focus on recovery.
* Eighty percent of the blood donations given to the Red Cross are collected at mobile blood drives set up at community organizations, companies, high schools, colleges, places of worship or military installations. The remaining 20 percent are collected at fixed Red Cross donor centers.
* The American Red Cross works with more than 50,000 blood drive sponsors each year to hold more than 200,000 blood drives, providing convenient locations for people to give blood.
* The number of blood donations collected in the U.S. in a year: 16 million (2006).
* The number of blood donors in the U.S. in a year: 9.5 million (2006).
* The number of patients who receive blood in the U.S. in a year: 5 million (2006).
* Share of the U.S. population eligible to give blood: Less than 38 percent.
* Blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors.
* Type O-negative blood (red cells) can be transfused to patients of all blood types. It is always in great demand and often in short supply.
* Type AB-positive plasma can be transfused to patients of all other blood types. AB plasma is also usually in short supply.
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