 Your
Blood Donation Makes a Difference.
1-866-37DONOR
(373-6667)
WHY DONATE?
Your blood donation directly helps the people who need it most. It costs you
nothing to give and your donation makes a positive difference in the life
of another person.
Read
about the powerful impact of blood donation.
CAN I GIVE?
To donate blood you have to be between the ages of 16* and 78, weigh at least
110 pounds, and be in good health. *Sixteen-year-old donors are required
to bring a parental consent form, completed
in ink, in order to donate.
WHO WILL RECEIVE
MY BLOOD DONATION?
Patients at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center and St. John's Mercy
Hospital. They could be trauma patients, cancer patients, new moms or other
patients fighting any number of illnesses.
A donor may also
wish for their blood donation to be directed to a specific patient.
For information on this, please read the Directed
Donations Fact Sheet.
The donor will also need to complete the Directed Donation Request
Form.
BLOOD DONATION
FACTS
- It takes about
10 minutes for your actual blood donation. The start to finish time,
signing in, screening, donation and snack, takes about an hour.
- You cannot get
AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.
BLOOD FACTS
- One out of three
people need donated blood in their life.
- One out of 10
hospital patients needs a blood transfusion.
- Blood is always
needed for treatment of accident victims, cancer patients, hemophiliacs
and surgery patients.
- There is no substitute
for human blood.
HOW MUCH BLOOD
DOES ONE PATIENT NEED?
| Heart
patients: |
2-8
units of packed red cells |
| Car
accident trauma patient: |
4-12
units of packed red cells |
| Cancer
patient on chemotherapy: |
6-12
units |
| Neonatal
Intensive Care Unit (NICU) baby: |
5-10
transfusions of packed red cells |
Monthly
usage for St. John’s Mercy is more than 1,100 units.
BLOOD DONATION
OPTIONS
St. John’s Mercy uses component therapy with all blood donations. Component
therapy means your blood donation will be saved in three parts, packed red
cells, fresh frozen plasma and platelets. This ensures your donation will be
used to its maximum potential.
Whole Blood -
is used throughout St. John’s Mercy to help patients in a wide variety
of cases, including patients in the
cardiovascular and cancer centers to our Emergency Department trauma center.
Autologous Donation -
is a self-donation. It allows you to use your own blood for anticipated
transfusion, i.e., elective surgery. An autologous transfusion is the
safest form of blood transfusion. It decreases the risk of infectious
disease or other complications.
Directed Donation -
is a blood donation in which the patient selects compatible donors
to meet their transfusion needs. In some cases, family and friends
will donate for a loved one.
Platelet or Apheresis -
is a special type of blood donation in which whole blood is withdrawn
from the donor and separated into its component parts (red blood cells,
white blood cells, platelets and plasma). All but the needed component
is returned to the donor. The needed blood component, such as platelets,
is made immediately available to patients with special needs such as
leukemia, cancer, organ transplant recipients, etc. The average patient
on chemotherapy will need
between 12 and 24 units.
HOW TO DONATE
You may donate at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis or at St.
John’s Mercy Hospital in Washington, MO. To schedule a donation, call 1-866-37DONOR
(373-6667). St. John’s Mercy also offers a convenient mobile service. We can
help you setup a blood drive at your office, school or church. St. John’s Mercy
provides everything needed for the drive, call 314-302-9402 for more information.
The
need for blood donations never ceases.
You can make a difference.
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