BY DEBBIE PAGE
debbiepage.iredellfreenews@gmail.com
The Town of Troutman is partnering with the American Red Cross to host a Red Cross Bloodmobile Bus Drive on Thursday, February 18, in the Troutman Town Hall parking lot (400 N. Eastway Drive) from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Troutman Police Chief Tina Fleming urged the community to sign up to donate at Thursday’s Town Council meeting. She reminded council members of the benefits of donating blood.
“Giving blood now is very critical during the pandemic because they can actually use the blood to help individuals who contract the virus. It’s always been a good thing as far as saving lives — helping patients like burn victims, cancer patients, people in accidents.”
“It’s always been a huge, huge benefit to donate blood, but now we can also use it toward fighting the corona virus. This is a good thing. I always push the health benefits for the individual too. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
Town Manager Ron Wyatt also spoke about the “critical” situation now that makes blood donations even more urgent.
According to the Red Cross, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood.
Blood donors help patients of all ages, including accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those battling cancer.
Sickle cell patients need whole blood, preferably Type O negative, especially from African-American donors because they often require multiple transfusions from closely matched donors from the same racial or ethnic group.
To donate whole blood, donors should be in good health and feeling well, be at least 17 years old, and weigh at least 110 pounds. Donors should also not have donated blood in the last 56 days.
The night before donating, donors should get at least eight hours of sleep and eat a healthy breakfast and lunch, especially if the appointment is later in the day. Drinking a few extra glasses of water or fluids in the days before donation is also important.
If donors drink water within 10 to 30 minutes before giving blood, they may be less likely to experience dizziness and lightheadedness afterwards.
Fleming said only four slots were left for the Troutman drive as of Thursday night.
Those interested should visit the Red Cross website (www.redcross.org) to register for an appointment time. Search Troutman or the zip code 28166 in the search box to find the find February 18 event and then select your appointment time.
If all slots are filled, please consider donating at one of the other upcoming Red Cross blood drives around Iredell.
Other events nearby in Statesville are on Wednesday, February 17, at the Statesville YMCA (9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.), on Friday, February 19, at Davis Regional Medical Center (10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.), and on Monday, February 22, at Chestnut Grove Community Center (2 – 6:30 p.m.)
In Mooresville the Red Cross blood drives are on Tuesday, February 23, at the Charles Mack Center (2 – 6:30 p.m.) and on Wednesday, February 24, at Woodland Heights Middle School (10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) and Langtree Apartments (2 – 7 p.m.)
The Red Cross will honor all applicable COVID protocols for the safety of donors and requests that donors wear a mask.
LEARN MORE
For additional information on the Troutman blood drive, please contact 704-528-7600.