Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Some Can Be Used For Immediate Needs, Some Not, After Monday's Kimball Blood Drive
Kathy Walker is a pro at giving blood. She has been doing the double red procedure for the past four years and donated whole blood before that. She said it usually takes her about 45 minutes to give the double red, and she is able to donate about every four months.
Kathy Walker began donating blood many years ago when her mother was hospitalized.
"I give blood because it's a way I can help someone in their time of need," she said during Monday's community blood drive at The Sagebrush.
Kathy is a double red donor, meaning she gives a concentrated dose of red cells, the part of your blood used every day for those needing transfusions as part of their care. This type of donation separates your red blood cells from the other blood components, and then safely and comfortably returns your plasma and platelets to her.
Power red donations are generally given to trauma patients and newborns, and for emergency transfusions.
According to Kathy, the "double red or power red goes to the patient faster than a whole blood donation because it doesn't have to go to a lab to be separated; it's done while I am donating."
When the donation goes to a patient, donors get an email telling them, "It makes you feel good because you made a difference."
Vitalant blood donor service team members explained that power red goes straight to a hospital, whereas whole blood has to go to a lab, get processed, and turned into three separate units before going to a hospital. Power red cuts the time and gets to the patient faster.
Double red donors get a saline solution returned to them. It is super beneficial and doesn't make the donor so tired.
Whole blood donations have a shelf life of seven days, but by the time they are processed in the lab there is usually only three or four days left for them to be used.
There is a huge need for blood donations. They just go out faster than they come in. During COVID-19, people were afraid to leave their houses, and the supply of blood donors and product inventory dwindled. It has been hard to catch up.
Vitalant is a nonprofit blood donor service based in Cheyenne and serving the area. They were in town Monday for area donors to donate whole blood or power red.
