U.P. blood donations are in high demand
If being out in the sun isn’t your cup of tea and you’d rather be inside soaking up the air conditioning, the U.P. Regional Blood Center has plenty to go round.
Donating blood is relatively easy and anyone in good health makes a great candidate. Right now they are in dire need of more blood as the summer months create a lull donations.
“People are on vacation. They’re doing their own thing. They’re not thinking about donating blood. During the summer the high schools are closed. We don’t get the high school blood drives. We don’t get the university blood drives which are high volume blood drives for us,” explained Dana Langsford, the Donor Service Supervisor at the U.P. Regional Blood Center.
The procedure takes about a half-hour on average and within three days you could help at least two people recover from operations or other serious accidents.
Most importantly, every drop stays right here in the U.P.
“We have five sites in the Upper Peninsula: Marquette, Sault Ste Marie, Iron Mountain, Hancock, and Escanaba. They’re operating, collecting blood units. Those blood units are used for thirteen U.P. hospitals. It’s really not that bad. I know a lot of people are kind of worried to be stuck with a large needle. But once the needle goes in your arm, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It really shouldn’t. Like for a second you have the needle going in, and that’s about it. You donate your blood, and then your done,” Langsford added.
If you’d like to donate now you can call 225-4610 or 1-800-491-GIVE.