Urgent Call for Blood Donation at the Windom Heroes Blood Drive
Windom, MN- Windom Fire Department, Police Department, EMS, Windom Area Health and Community Blood Bank will partner up to save lives at the annual Heroes Behind the Badges blood drive event. The departments will be competing to see who can recruit the most blood donors to boost the fall blood supply for Windom Area Health. All donors will receive a special t-shirt and a free lunch.
The “fun competition” between the departments will be held at Windom Area Health on Monday, September 16 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm. The public is encouraged to come donate and designated their donation to the department of their choice. The department credited with the most blood donations will receive a trophy and bragging rights for a year.
“As we move into fall, we have experienced extremely strong usage due to multiple traumas, surgeries and many patients being treated for cancer. This is the most difficult year within the last 5 years to keep up with the demand for blood,” states Ken Versteeg, Executive Director, Community Blood Bank. “There have been many weeks where our usage is outpacing collection by 25%. Our hope is to see a great turn out at the Heroes Behind the Badges blood drive in Windom to help fight the critical appeal for blood and local blood shortages. All blood types are needed, as well as new donors encouraged to give. Join us to save lives within the community and show your support for those who serve and impact the community in many ways.”
Community Blood Bank supplies over 550 units of blood each week to people in the region. Among those who benefit from donated blood are trauma and burn victims, cancer patients and persons undergoing surgery. Donating blood is a simple way to save patients’ lives in the community. Without volunteer blood donors donating blood throughout the summer, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain an adequate supply of blood for our community hospitals.
Donors must be at least 17 years old (16 years old with a signed parent consent form found at www.cbblifeblood.org), weigh 110 lbs. or more and be in good general health the day of the donation. Please bring an I.D. It is recommended that a person eat and drink plenty of fluid prior to donating. Community Blood Bank is not associated with any other blood bank organizations.
For more information log onto www.cbblifeblood.org, call Windom Area Health at 507-831-0655 or call Community Blood Bank at 877-877-3070. Community Blood Bank is not associated with any other blood bank organizations.