The St. Mary’s Regional Blood Center experiences significant inventory reductions during the winter months. That is why January has been declared National Blood Donor Awareness Month.

The blood collected at St. Mary’s is used to save lives at many facilities across Colorado and donors are desperately needed.

Here are some quick stats about the center:

  • Only supplier of blood products on the Western Slope
  • Supply 16 hospitals including all 4 in Grand Junction.  We are the sole blood source for 11 of those hospitals.
  • In 2015,
    • have seen 14,497 donors
    • drew 22,861 products from 12,269 donors
  • Our buses travel 23,000 miles per year to 316 blood drives (11/30 stats)
  • 46% of blood collected on mobiles
  • In 2014, 931 blood donors qualified as galloneers which are celebrated at a banquet
    • 6 donors have given 30+ gallons of blood
    • 256 donors gave apheresis in 2014
      • 70 gave blood by apheresis 10 or more times
    • It takes 8 donations to reach a gallon
  • Need to constantly replenish
    • RBCs last 42 days.  Carries oxygen to tissues
    • Platelets (apheresis) last 5 days to stop bleeding
    • Frozen plasma last 1 year and replaces coagulation factors
  • Top users
    • RBC
      • Trauma
      • Surgery
      • Cancer
    • Platelets
      • Oncology
      • Surgery
      • Plasma
      • Trauma

There is no pharmaceutical alternative to blood donation, so please plan on donating blood today. The St. Mary's Pavilion hours are Monday to Friday, 7 am to 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays 7 to 12:30 p.m. You do not need an appointment to donate. It only takes about 30 minutes to donate whole blood or 2 hours for apheresis.

For more information see the St. Mary's Blood Center website or call 970-298-2555.

 

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