Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center Shares Some Interesting Facts

 
The Rotary Club of The Woodlands had today as its speaker, two members of the community outreach team from the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center.  With just two weeks until our next quarterly blood drive, today’s topic was especially timely. 
 
Katie Martinez and Leo Stella shared a bit about the Blood Center and the impact that our Club, and Rotary as a whole, has made.
The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center supports a total of 26 counties with 170 different health care centers being directly supported.  With this large footprint, the center needs about 1000 units DAILY to keep up with demand.  With our blood drives usually yielding 35 units, this is a major undertaking.  Only about 1 in 20 people will donate blood, while over their lives 1 in every 7 people will need blood products at some point.  This is why regular, repeated donors are so important to the center. 
Over the last 17 years our club has been responsible for donating 1572 pints of blood having the potential of impact more than 4716 lives, as each pint of blood can help three people.  Taking a look at Rotary as a whole, it is estimated that Rotary Clubs nationwide end up fulfilling about 1% of the total needs nationwide.  What a huge impact and a Gift to the World! 
When it comes to donating there are a few things to consider:
  • Get a good night’s sleep and have a healthy breakfast
  • Staying hydrated both before and after the procedure is important
  • If possible, fill out your personal health history earlier that day and print it out.It will save you about 15 minutes
  • Whole blood take about 10 minutes while apheresis takes about 30 minutes
Their final note to everyone.  WHEN IN DOUBT, TRY TO DONATE and ASK OTEHRS TO DO THE SAME!