December 12, 2016
Marshall Medical employees and many folks from the community rolled up their sleeves to make a Christmas blood drive successful.
“The winter blood drive is extremely important to LifeSouth and Marshall Medical Centers,” said Derek Daugherty, LifeSouth Regional Manager. “It is strategically placed in early December to help ensure that we have enough blood to adequately supply our hospitals during the holidays and winter months when blood usage typically increases. The terrific turnout for this blood drive will go a long way in making sure we are able to meet our hospitals’ needs, which is to make sure that their patients are taken care of.”
During the two-day drive at Marshall North, a total of 115 units of blood were collected. It would have been higher but 19 people were unable to donate for various reasons.
Marshall Medical gave every donor a gift certificate for a 12-14 pound turkey from Foodland in Guntersville. Jessica Strange won a $100 gift card to Foodland and MMC employee Randy Humphries won a Yeti cooler gift basket donated by LIfeSouth.
“We are so pleased with the amount of people who donated at the last blood drive,” said Greg French, director of food and environmental services at Marshall North. “We saw numerous new faces which tell us our continuing effort to get the word out to the community is working. The free turkey for each donor was a big bonus as well.”
Marshall Medical Centers host four drives at each hospital every year. In Marshall County alone, the two hospitals use more than 2,300 units of blood a year and 180 platelet products annually. Dates and locations of blood drives can be found on the MMC website at mmcenters.com under the heading Upcoming Events.
All blood types are needed, but the greatest need is for negative blood types, especially O-negative which is the universal donor and can be used by all patients in an emergency. Donors must be at least 17 years old or 16 with parental permission, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds and be in good health. A photo ID is also needed.
A healthy donor may donate red blood cells every 56 days. Although about 38 percent of the population is eligible to give blood, only about 3 percent do.
In 2002, at the request of 15 hospitals in North Alabama, including Marshall Medical Centers, LifeSouth Community Blood Centers began collecting and supplying blood in our community. LifeSouth is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community blood supplier for more than 100 hospitals in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
LifeSouth is a community blood center, meaning the blood supply collected from local donors directly serves the needs of patients in our community. The blood donated here will stay here for local patients. Only after the local needs are met will LifeSouth share the blood supply with other communities.
Growth at Marshall Medical means more demand for blood. The Marshall Cancer Care Center has increased the need for platelets, while red blood cells are essential for surgery.
LifeSouth considers itself partners with Marshall Medical. With two buses in Marshall County, 14 employees plus couriers who transport blood to hospitals, the company tries to meet the needs of the hospitals. In addition to being the community blood provider, LifeSouth picks up blood samples for testing and couriers are available 24/7 for blood deliveries. It conducts educational programs in schools to teach youngsters the importance of being a blood donor.