Resolve to Give the Ultimate Gift of Health This New Year

Resolve to Give the Ultimate Gift of Health This New Year

By David Wellis, CEO, San Diego Blood Bank


January is National Blood Donor Month here in San Diego and across the United States. This month, we need to collect 10,000 units of lifesaving blood which will benefit trauma victims and transfusion patients. The New Year is often a time of new beginnings and resolutions. We make pledges and plans to partake in healthy habits for ourselves. Please also consider assisting others to meet and overcome their health challenges by donating blood. Your blood donation is the ultimate gift of health.

Blood cannot yet be manufactured or reproduced. Blood has a limited shelf life and new supplies are needed on a continuous basis. Did you know that every three seconds someone needs a blood transfusion? Approximately twenty percent are children, many suffering from cancer. Just one pint of blood from one donor can save up to three lives.

Just ask Carlsbad resident, Sherry Dunn, the mother of five-year-old Grace Dunn. Five-year-old Grace Dunn was born with a congenital heart defect and by the time she was six-months-old she had two open heart surgeries. Grace had her third open heart surgery in 2013 and required several blood transfusions. Even with a heart condition, Grace is very outgoing, playful and loves to sing and dance. By donating blood today you can help patients like Grace whose lives depend on it.

With the December holiday hustle and bustle, the need for blood increased while our donations decreased. Regular donors were not as regular. Holiday school closings also posed a challenge as many high schools and universities are blood donation sites. Hospitals were busier during the holiday season. The public’s contribution is even more critical now to help raise our blood supply to safe levels for anyone in need

When you donate blood to the San Diego Blood Bank, you have choices about how to donate. We can recommend the most effective blood component donation for each donor based on blood type, and current need. This is also an integral feature of next generation blood banks – collecting what we need when we need it and getting it to our neighbors who need it the most. And a donation for research can be just as important as a donation for transfusion.

We have six donor centers across the county and bloodmobiles out in the community at schools, businesses and places of worship just about any day of the year. The need is great and donations are more important than ever. Businesses and organizations are encouraged to host blood drives and special events to help us collect blood at their locations.

Blood is the common currency in healthcare, from blood transfusion (which is the most common hospital procedure in the world), to research, to diagnostics. When our brother, our sister or anyone we care about is in crisis and needs blood, the importance of blood donation becomes magnified. Research has continued for decades to find a substitute for blood and it still does not exist. We rely on your help now and in the future to help strengthen the lifeline of our community.

David Wellis is the CEO of the San Diego Blood Bank. To make an appointment, visit http://www.mysdbb.org.

Source: bloodcenters.org

The San Diego Blood Bank has Donor Centers locations in the following communities:
• San Diego Blood Bank Gateway Donor Center, 3636 Gateway Center Avenue, Suite 100 (92102)
• East County Donor Center, 776 Arnele Avenue, El Cajon (92020)
• North County Donor Center, 358 West El Norte Parkway, Suite J, Escondido (92026)
• North Coastal Donor Center, 161 Thunder Drive, Vista (92083)
• Sabre Springs Donor Center, 12640 Sabre Springs Parkway, Suite 109 (92128)
• Carmel Valley Donor Center (in the Piazza Carmel Shopping Center), 3880 Valley Center Drive, Suite 209 & 210 (92130)

The public can find a mobile drive location with just a few swipes on their smartphone at http://www.mysdbb.org. Additionally, the public’s help is needed to host blood drives at their school, workplace, or place of worship. To make an appointment to donate or to sign up to host a blood drive, those interested should contact the San Diego Blood Bank at 800-469-7322.