Blood drive is March 26-27 at Our Saviour’s church

The Red Cross community blood drives, including the one here in Hastings next week, seek donors to help blood supplies in the area.

The next blood drive in Hastings is from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 26; and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 400 W. Ninth St.

To make an appointment to give blood, call Gail at 651-248-1173.

Each blood donor is unique but all blood donations follow the same path taken before they can be transfused to patients. Here are some of the stops along the way:

The donation – The blood bag, test tubes and donor records are given an identical bar code label so the donation can be tracked. The donation is stored in iced coolers until it is transported to a Red Cross Center.

Processing – Donated blood is scanned into a computer database. Most blood is separated into components—red cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate.

Test tubes are sent for testing to one of five Red Cross National Testing Laboratories.

Testing – At the minimum, 12 tests are performed on each unit of donated blood, establishing the blood type and checking for infectious diseases.

The test results are transferred electronically to the Red Cross Center (St. Paul) within 24 hours.

If the test result is positive, the unit is discarded and the donor is notified. Test results are confidential and only shared with the donor, except as may be required by law.

Distribution- After all test results are received, units suitable for transfusion are labeled and stored.

Red cells are stored up to 42 days. Platelets are stored for up to five days and plasma is frozen and stored for up to one year. Blood is both stocked at hospitals and available to be shipped from the Red Cross to hospitals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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