Jamestown Regional Medical Center is hosting a blood drive on Thursday, Aug. 8 to help save lives.
The drive is open to the community from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Vitalant’s bloodmobile. The mobile will be located near the Emergency Department parking lot at JRMC.
JRMC Clinical Service Assistant Katie Mittleider says a drive is a great event for the community and staff.
“As professionals in the healthcare industry, we see how important it is to have donor blood readily available,” Mittleider said. “That’s why we host blood drives every year.”
People can donate blood up to three times each year.
The JRMC blood drive collects whole blood. During a whole blood donation, nearly 500 ml of blood is collected from the donor and then separated later into components like red cells, plasma and platelets. These are used for patient transfusions.
“This will be our 15th time holding a blood drive since 2011 at the Jamestown Regional Medical Center,” Mittleider said. “We welcome the opportunity to allow Vitalant into our facility to help us hold the blood drive. Vitalant provides our facility with red cells, platelets and plasma for transfusions.”
To date, JRMC’s drive alone has collected 935 pints of blood for Vitalant.
While most adults can donate blood, some individuals are ineligible.
Certain diseases, like AIDS and hepatitis, prevent people from donating.
Others who are ineligible include people who:
- have used needles to take nonprescription drugs
- have had syphilis or gonorrhea in the past 12 months
- have had the Ebola virus disease or infection
To donate blood and schedule an appointment or for donor eligibility, call (701) 952-4814.