Consider Donating Blood, Plasma to Help Patients
By Pam Witt Hillen, flight nurse, ThedaStar
Blood is always needed and it cannot be reproduced synthetically. Every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood.
Actually, 40,000 pints of blood are needed every day. Our national blood supply must cover everyday health needs along with any unexpected disasters.
While trauma victims often need blood transfusions, other people who most use the supply of available blood include those being treated for cancer, undergoing orthopedic surgeries, receiving organ and marrow transplants, and those having cardiovascular surgeries.
ThedaStar carries two units of O-Negative blood along with two units of plasma. O-negative blood is the universal donor of red blood cells. Blood plasma is a yellowish colored liquid component of blood that normally holds the blood cells in whole blood in suspension. It makes up about 55 percent of the body's total blood volume. It also helps with some clotting factors. The average adult has about 5 liters of circulating blood; when a person loses 2 liters of blood, he or she could go into irreversible shock and organ death. With onboard blood and plasma, the flight crew can temporarily mitigate shock and replace lost circulating volume. Lives can be saved!
Thedastar alone initiates blood approximately 5- 6 times per month. Please consider blood donation. It is about an hour of your time. It’s about life. Thank you!
