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In about the same time it takes to work off a slice of pizza, a cheeseburger, or a caramel frappucino, most of us could be helping to save lives. One hour is all it takes to walk-, dance-, or golf-off those calories and—more importantly—that’s all it takes to give a pint of blood.
Phyllis Suitter is a busy mom of three, but on a recent Saturday morning she delays a family outing to Mount Desert Island and heads to a blood drive in Brewer. “After I had my daughter, I realized how important it is to give blood on a regular basis,” the 25-year-old mother says as she gives blood, with her youngest child, six-month-old Taylor, in a cradle nearby.
Suitter has also brought along her son Gage, 6, to educate him about giving blood. When not drawing cars and trucks on scraps of paper or playing tiger in an imaginary jungle, Gage watches his mother give blood. It’s probably the shortest part of the donation process, one that takes about six to eight minutes.
Gage can’t help but ask questions. “Does it feel like it’s sucking out your blood?” he queries.
His mom smiles and tells him to take a look for himself. Gage crouches to see the collection bag on the other side of the cot. “It’s getting bigger,” he says before his attention returns to the jungle.
Separated into its components—red blood cells, plasma, and platelets—the pint of blood that Phyllis Suitter is donating can be used to help up to four people, people like Brendan Shea.
Sidelined after a soccer practice by a seemingly innocuous injury that wouldn’t heal, Shea learned at age 13 that he was fighting for his life. Leukemia was pushing back his body’s natural defenses, and his white blood cell count was tanking as the cancer cells began dominating his body. He was anemic, jaundiced, and weak. But an infusion of donated blood platelets helped strengthen his body enough to let him undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments. “It was the blood donations that got me over that hump,” says the now 26-year-old Shea, of Hampden, who is grateful for the blood donations by strangers.
Unfortunately, stories like Shea’s aren’t unusual. Somewhere in this country, a person needs blood every two seconds, whether it’s for emergency surgery or hip replacement or to help fight cancer. Lynda Barnes of Jonesboro nearly died giving birth to her daughter Keely several years ago, but a massive transfusion of blood and platelets saved her, although blood had to be brought in from Massachusetts to replenish Maine’s supply.
The demands for blood are hard to keep up with. Based on past assessments by Maine’s hospitals, the American Red Cross says that 300 pints of blood have to be donated each day in the state to assure an adequate supply of the life-giving fluid is on hand. And that says nothing about what would be required in complications during operations or for a mass casualty resulting from accidents or disasters.
The goal hasn’t been met very many times, says the Red Cross’s Trudy Darling. July was a particularly bad month with donations short by 188 pints, meaning August started out in a huge deficit. Four years ago, Darling sold lubricants for Mobil-Exxon. Now, as an account executive for marketing and media with the American Red Cross, she sells people on giving blood.
So why is it so hard to keep up blood supplies when nearly 65% of the people in this state are eligible to donate blood and the average person can donate every eight weeks or six times a year. It’s not because the well ever runs dry. Each of us has about 10 to 12 pints of the red fluid coursing through our bodies. And it’s not like Maine is filled with Scrooges. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Maine people showed up by the hundreds to donate blood, Darling says. “If we could just get those donors back and if they gave two donations a year, we’d never be behind the eight ball.” After the terrorist attacks, donation numbers dwindled again as the sense of urgency got lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Giving blood wasn’t on Jim Sturgeon’s mind when he left his Orrington home one Saturday morning, but as the retired state transportation worker pulled off South Main Street in Brewer to head back to a garage sale he passed, Sturgeon saw the sign for the blood drive. He hadn’t given blood in 20 years, but something tugged at him.
“I just felt like I wanted to help out,” he says, while sitting at the table where donors drink juice or soda and eat snacks to replenish and rest for 15 minutes after giving blood. (Dieters need not worry about the snacks—the body loses about 600 calories with a blood donation.)
Saturday blood drives are helping to attract busy donors like Sturgeon, and recent rule changes mean that others who may have been deferred from donating in the past are now eligible. Blood donations are strictly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but these rules undergo reviews and revisions. Getting a tattoo previously meant a 12-month wait to give blood, but now if that tattoo comes from a licensed facility, someone can donate blood as early as the next day, Darling says.
Another recent change is encouraging younger people to donate. Last fall, for the first time, 16-year-olds could give blood, with parental permission, one year earlier than the previous requirement, says Robin Lindsey, a donor recruitment representative for the American Red Cross. It was a significant step for blood recruitment as nearly half of the donations received during the academic year come from schools.
Gage Suitter is already learning the importance of giving blood, although it will be another 10 years before he can donate. His response is short and simple when asked whether he will give blood when the time comes.
“Yeah,” he says.
For information about where to donate blood, call 800-GIVE-LIFE. For info about eligibility call 800-462-9400 or visit www.givelife.org.
Phyllis Suitter is a busy mom of three, but on a recent Saturday morning she delays a family outing to Mount Desert Island and heads to a blood drive in Brewer. “After I had my daughter, I realized how important it is to give blood on a regular basis,” the 25-year-old mother says as she gives blood, with her youngest child, six-month-old Taylor, in a cradle nearby.
Suitter has also brought along her son Gage, 6, to educate him about giving blood. When not drawing cars and trucks on scraps of paper or playing tiger in an imaginary jungle, Gage watches his mother give blood. It’s probably the shortest part of the donation process, one that takes about six to eight minutes.
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Gage can’t help but ask questions. “Does it feel like it’s sucking out your blood?” he queries.
His mom smiles and tells him to take a look for himself. Gage crouches to see the collection bag on the other side of the cot. “It’s getting bigger,” he says before his attention returns to the jungle.
Separated into its components—red blood cells, plasma, and platelets—the pint of blood that Phyllis Suitter is donating can be used to help up to four people, people like Brendan Shea.
Sidelined after a soccer practice by a seemingly innocuous injury that wouldn’t heal, Shea learned at age 13 that he was fighting for his life. Leukemia was pushing back his body’s natural defenses, and his white blood cell count was tanking as the cancer cells began dominating his body. He was anemic, jaundiced, and weak. But an infusion of donated blood platelets helped strengthen his body enough to let him undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments. “It was the blood donations that got me over that hump,” says the now 26-year-old Shea, of Hampden, who is grateful for the blood donations by strangers.
Unfortunately, stories like Shea’s aren’t unusual. Somewhere in this country, a person needs blood every two seconds, whether it’s for emergency surgery or hip replacement or to help fight cancer. Lynda Barnes of Jonesboro nearly died giving birth to her daughter Keely several years ago, but a massive transfusion of blood and platelets saved her, although blood had to be brought in from Massachusetts to replenish Maine’s supply.
The demands for blood are hard to keep up with. Based on past assessments by Maine’s hospitals, the American Red Cross says that 300 pints of blood have to be donated each day in the state to assure an adequate supply of the life-giving fluid is on hand. And that says nothing about what would be required in complications during operations or for a mass casualty resulting from accidents or disasters.
The goal hasn’t been met very many times, says the Red Cross’s Trudy Darling. July was a particularly bad month with donations short by 188 pints, meaning August started out in a huge deficit. Four years ago, Darling sold lubricants for Mobil-Exxon. Now, as an account executive for marketing and media with the American Red Cross, she sells people on giving blood.
So why is it so hard to keep up blood supplies when nearly 65% of the people in this state are eligible to donate blood and the average person can donate every eight weeks or six times a year. It’s not because the well ever runs dry. Each of us has about 10 to 12 pints of the red fluid coursing through our bodies. And it’s not like Maine is filled with Scrooges. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Maine people showed up by the hundreds to donate blood, Darling says. “If we could just get those donors back and if they gave two donations a year, we’d never be behind the eight ball.” After the terrorist attacks, donation numbers dwindled again as the sense of urgency got lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Giving blood wasn’t on Jim Sturgeon’s mind when he left his Orrington home one Saturday morning, but as the retired state transportation worker pulled off South Main Street in Brewer to head back to a garage sale he passed, Sturgeon saw the sign for the blood drive. He hadn’t given blood in 20 years, but something tugged at him.
“I just felt like I wanted to help out,” he says, while sitting at the table where donors drink juice or soda and eat snacks to replenish and rest for 15 minutes after giving blood. (Dieters need not worry about the snacks—the body loses about 600 calories with a blood donation.)
Saturday blood drives are helping to attract busy donors like Sturgeon, and recent rule changes mean that others who may have been deferred from donating in the past are now eligible. Blood donations are strictly regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but these rules undergo reviews and revisions. Getting a tattoo previously meant a 12-month wait to give blood, but now if that tattoo comes from a licensed facility, someone can donate blood as early as the next day, Darling says.
Another recent change is encouraging younger people to donate. Last fall, for the first time, 16-year-olds could give blood, with parental permission, one year earlier than the previous requirement, says Robin Lindsey, a donor recruitment representative for the American Red Cross. It was a significant step for blood recruitment as nearly half of the donations received during the academic year come from schools.
Gage Suitter is already learning the importance of giving blood, although it will be another 10 years before he can donate. His response is short and simple when asked whether he will give blood when the time comes.
“Yeah,” he says.
For information about where to donate blood, call 800-GIVE-LIFE. For info about eligibility call 800-462-9400 or visit www.givelife.org.
