Fairview Healthcare Residence, Freestone Medical Center to host Carter BloodCare drives to maintain summer blood supply
Fairview Healthcare Residence is hosting a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, August 9 at 601 E. Reunion St. in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment time, contact Cheryle Chaffin at (903) 389-4121.
Freestone Medical Center is hosting a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, August 23 at 764 W. Commerce St. in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment time, contact Linda Sanford at (903) 389-1618.
About 37 percent of the population, at any given time, is eligible to donate blood. Yet, less than four percent of eligible donors in the Carter BloodCare service area gives blood. Approximately 600 to 800 patients daily require blood transfusions. Many of them will require more than one unit of blood and/or blood components. Carter BloodCare likes to see 1,000 donors each day to meet the daily demand. Summer is one of the most challenging times of year to do that.
Hospitals full of patients depend on blood donations – even while many healthy individuals enjoy summer fun. Blood donors help ensure chemotherapy patients receive platelets they require; red cells are available for heart surgery patients; and when a lifesaving donor organ arrives, blood is available to perform the operation.
Donors must remember to eat a nutritious meal and drink plenty of water one to two hours before giving blood. All donors must weigh at least 110 pounds, feel well on the day of donation, and present a government-issued photo ID each time they give blood.
Potential blood donors may volunteer beginning at age 16 with parental consent; 17-year-olds may give independently and there is no upper age limit for donating blood. For more information on donor eligibility and to make an appointment, call 1-800-366-2834 or visit carterbloodcare.org.
