LifeSouth looking for blood donors as vacation season approaches
Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey donates blood at the LifeSouth grand opening. (RECORD PHOTO)
By Aldo Amato
Staff Reporter
MADISON — Both the LifeSouth Community Blood Center in Madison and locations across the nation are seeking blood donations as the vacation season approaches.
Despite not being at an emergency appeal level like they were in January, the donation center said in an April 1 press release that local hospitals like Madison, Huntsville and Crestwood are already seeing blood shortages.
“Local hospitals have already begun to feel the impact of spring break on the community’s blood supply, and anticipate even lower levels throughout the holiday weekend,” it read. “A shortage presents a serious problem for hospitals; blood is essential for treating accident victims, cancer patients, newborn babies and many others.”
Tamara Watts, District Community Development Coordinator at the LifeSouth location in Madison said that it is crucial to get as many blood donations at this point in the year because it helps patients throughout the Tennessee Valley in need of transfusions, victims with severe trauma and countless other ailments or injuries.
“The bottom line is that, unlike medication, blood is not as easily accessible,” Watts said. “Blood is a tissue, you cannot write a check for that. We don’t want it to ever reach a point where it was in January at an emergency appeal level. ”
The blood shortage can be attributed to many different factors including illnesses and long periods of vacation time.
“Due to the weather, the flu, people are not eligible to donate if they have been ill in days or weeks prior to donating,” Watts said. “We’ve had literally 50 percent of people come to donate and they’ve had to be deferred.”
Watts said that she is confident that the community will donate and is extremely impressed with high school and college students in the Huntsville/Madison area who are nicknamed the “Donation Generation.”
“They have been just amazing and are actually our best donors,” she said. “We go to a lot of the universities, sororities and fraternities on our blood donation bus. We also do high school drives. We’ve had Bob Jones students come out and tour the facility and more than half donated. It is just amazing.”
Donors must be 17 years or older, or 16 years old with parental permission. They must weigh a minimum of 110 lbs, be in good health and present a photo ID.
