Florida Blood Center: Donated Blood is used within 36 Hours

Nice public interest piece Michelle.  I give blood but not on a regular basis and always thought it was strange when they started to call me to come in and donate.

No kidding--every 56 days our local blood bank calls me to come in.  I typically, as I drive around, see one of the motor homes and stop in.  Since it's all networked it works out nicely, does not take very long, and is very personally rewarding.

Now, explaining to my young kids that it's important.  ---that's another story.  They do not see anything but the needle.  But at 10 and 5 I have a few years to move them along!

Thanks for the piece---

I was brought up with a really strong sensew of how important it is to give blood... and fortunately Florida Blood Services is more lenient about who they'll take blood from than the Red Cross. I have naturally very low blood pressure, and the Red Cross up north would never let me give. In Florida, I jump up and down next to my car for about a minute before I go in to give blood, and that brings it high enough to pass :)

BTW, did you know that only 7% of people have O-, the universal donor blood type? If you have O negative, your blood can be used for anyone and is the first blood in emergencies when there is no time to test for blood type...

Wow, Michelle!  AB+ is also really coveted!  I have A+, which is OK... and I also can be a pharesis donor when my hemoglobin is high enough since I've got good veins in both arms. It takes more time, but in the end they can help more people with the concentrate (or that's the way I understand it). I do hope your Heroes story helps more people donate blood!