National Blood Donor Month

January is National Blood Donor Month. The American Red Cross says that the winter months are “one of the most difficult times of year to collect enough blood products to meet patient needs.” Every year thousands of people rely on blood donations to stay alive due to various reasons. The need for life-saving blood increases during these months, as the donation amounts go down. This could be due to the holidays, inclement weather, and/ or seasonal illnesses.  

In order to combat this problem, since 1970, National Blood Donor Month has been observed in January. The American Red Cross is in a constant need for platelet and blood donations. With this ongoing pandemic, the Red Cross needs help from all donors and blood drive hosts to meet the needs of patient care. They are testing all donations of platelet, blood, and plasma forCOVID-19 antibodies. If plasma from a whole blood donation tests positive for antibodies, this donation can now be used in helping current COVID patients in need of plasma transfusions.  

There are multiple ways in which everyone can observe this national month:

Additional Resources:

‍https://www.mds-foundation.org/event/anuary-is-national-blood-donor-awareness-month/

‍ https://nationaltoday.com/national-blood-donor-month/

1. Donate: This is a crucial, but simple way to provide life to those whoneed it most. In any 8-week period, you can donate blood and platelets once orgive 6 platelet donations.
2. Inspire: National Blood Donor Month can help inspire others to donate.Which in turn will help create an exponential increase in blood donations.
3. Learn and Remember your blood type:  It is important for you to know what yourblood type is. People who have O+ blood are needed more often than any otherblood types. If you are O-, you are considered to be a universal donor. Thismeans any blood type can use this donation when they need blood.

https://www.adrp.org/NBDM