American Red Cross
While some of our fellow Rotarians were giving blood in the Bloodmobile, Roger Torres, a senior field manager for the American Red Cross gave us some information on the local need for blood.
Roger’s involvement came long before he worked for the Red Cross. As a baseball player for the Oakland A’s, he was minding the store at the hot corner (that’s third base, he told us), when a batted ball hit him in the face, breaking his left sinus cavity and spilling a lot of blood. Today Roger still wears a metal plate in his forehead as a reminder of the emergency when he needed blood.
Today, an inventory of whole blood lasts about 7-10 days. If the entire available supply in Los Angeles County were held in its refrigerator, as large as our two-room meeting room at Rio Hondo Event Center, only one corner would represent the entire blood stockpile, as of today.
Downey is known as one of the best blood-donor cities in Los Angeles County, and this is because our two high school have made blood drives such a success. Last week Warren gave 400 pints, and Downey High gave 500 pints. Our club was asked to give 25-30 today.
When asked if there are upper and lower age limits for donor, Torres replied that no one under 17 may give blood, unless, if they are 16, they have parental consent. At Downey High, 160 donors were age 16 and had that consent.
For oldsters, there’s no upper limit. If you have had radiation therapy, you should wait five years. If you have diabetes, you may give as long as you are healthy.