Central Texas Blood Donations Are A Life-Saving Holiday Gift

AUSTIN, TX — The holidays are a gift-giving season, a time to tangibly demonstrate one's love to family and friends. During this season of giving, you might consider giving the gift of life via a blood donation.

The holiday season historically is one of the most critical parts of the year for blood banks. Regular donors are often away traveling, unable to donate per their usual schedule. And, sadly, the holiday season is often marred by traffic accidents (often caused by drunk drivers), resulting in crash victims urgently needing blood.

As it happens, the regional blood bank We Are Blood currently is facing a dangerous dip in its supply. As a result, blood bank workers have been mobilized to various locations throughout Austin to conduct mobile drives. These itinerant blood donation sites are designed to make it easier for would-be donors to provide the precious, life-saving resource.

To that end, We Are Blood will be at Barton Creek Square and Lakeline Mall through early January. Walk-ups are welcome at both mall locations. Those wishing to make an appointment at the main blood bank site are urged to visit www.weareblood.org or call (512) 206-1266.

See the schedule here for mall drive locations and times. Blood bank crews have been at the malls since Dec. 20, and will be there again on Dec. 31 from 9:40 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. They will be there again from Jan. 2-4 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The process to donate blood is painless, and doesn't take much time. A minimal amount of time is a small sacrifice to pay to possibly save a life. And you'll feel good about having taken such noble action!

On its website, the American Red Cross describes the process of donating blood. See for yourself how easy it is:

Registration

• You'll be signed in while being assessed for basic eligibility.
• You’ll be asked to show ID, such as your driver’s license.
• You’ll read some information about donating blood.
• You'll be asked for your address for mail to be sent some eight weeks after donating.

Health history

• You’ll answer a few questions about your health history and places you’ve traveled during a private and confidential interview.
• You’ll answer questions related to any prescription and/or over the counter medications that may be in your system.
• Your temperature, pulse, blood pressure and hemoglobin level will be checked.

Your donation

• If you’re donating whole blood, an area on your arm will be cleansed before a brand new, sterilized needle for the blood draw is inserted. Don't fret: The needle feels like a quick pinch and takes mere seconds.
• Other types of donations, such as platelets, are made using an apheresis machine which will be connected to both arms.
• A whole blood donation takes about 8-10 minutes, during which you’ll be seated comfortably or lying down.
• When approximately a pint of whole blood has been collected, the donation is complete and a staff person will place a bandage on your arm.
• For platelets, the apheresis machine will collect a small amount of blood, remove the platelets, and return the rest of the blood through your other arm; this cycle will be repeated several times over about 2 hours.

Recovery and refreshments

• After donating blood, you’ll be given a snack and something to drink.
• Having enjoyed your refreshments, you'll continue on your normal routine after 10 to 15 minutes.

The value of a blood donation may be something of an abstraction, especially to those who have never partaken in the process. WebMD describes the many ways a blood donation can be so valuable.

How Donating Helps

Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. Donating blood can help:

• People who go through disasters or emergency situations;
• People who lose blood during major surgeries;
• People who have lost blood because of a gastrointestinal bleed;
• Women who have serious complications during pregnancy or childbirth;
• People with cancer or severe anemia sometimes caused by thalassemia or sickle cell disease.

About We Are Blood

We Are Blood is the exclusive provider of blood to Central Texas hospitals and medical facilities. They have been drawing blood here since 1951, when they were founded by the Travis County Medical Society as the “Travis County Medical Society Blood Bank.”

For more than 66 years, their work to inspire folks to donate blood locally hasn’t stopped, and they now serve 40 hospitals and medical facilities in the 10-county area with a mission to provide and protect the community blood supply, to inspire Central Texans to save lives locally, and to always treat everyone they serve like family.

We Are Blood helps ensure that all of the patients served have access to blood when they need it most.