Miller-Keystone Blood Center seeks donations

Healthy people age 17 and over are encouraged to give the gift of life this winter by donating blood through the Miller-Keystone Blood Center. Sixteen-year-olds may also donate with parental consent.

According to Marie Clemens, director of communications, blood is especially needed during the winter months, when donations decrease. "(The supply) is lower than we would like it to be," said Clemens. "Certain times of the year are traditionally lower - middle of summer and middle of winter because of inclement weather. If it is snowing, people won't come out." She added that winter is also cold and flu season, and having one of these illnesses makes donors ineligible.

Clemens noted that blood donations are still affected by the pandemic. "A lot of donors did not come back. Some are uncomfortable donating in rooms with other donors even though we practice social distancing," she stated, noting that blood drives at area schools have also decreased. "About 20% of donations come from (blood drives held) at high schools and colleges. Not all schools are running blood drives to the same degree (as before the pandemic). That has impacted our collections."

After making an appointment to donate blood, people should arrive at the location with a valid driver's license or other form of identification. Donors are then asked to answer medical questions, and a trained medical screener will do a health check, which includes blood pressure, pulse and temperature screenings.

"For whole blood donations, the process from registration until they have cookies in the canteen and go home is about 45 minutes," Clemens noted. "The donation itself is six to 10 minutes."

In addition, there is a need for donation of platelets, red blood cells and plasma, which can extend the donation process. "For those with a blood type of AB negative or positive, we encourage plasma (donations)," she explained. "Platelets only have a shelf life of seven days, and they are used as cancer treatment in hospitals."

Those with blood type O negative are especially needed to donate blood. "Type O negative is a universal donor," Clemens noted. "If someone is in a car accident and (the emergency workers) don't have time to type their blood, they can get O negative."

The Miller-Keystone Blood Center's main headquarters is located in Bethlehem. It also has several satellite offices, including one in Reading. "We have couriers that come to a blood drive, and all the blood collected goes to our Bethlehem headquarters for testing for one or two days. If it's a first-time donor, they also type the blood," said Clemens. "Hospitals have standard orders that they receive every day or every other day."

She added that someone from the blood center is always on call in case of an accident where blood is needed immediately.

"We do anywhere from 700 to 1,000 blood drives per year," Clemens reported. "The blood stays in our community to help patients at community hospitals. We serve 35 hospitals in eastern PA and western New Jersey."

One of Miller-Keystone's largest blood drives is held at Daniel Boone Area High School, 501 Chestnut St., Birdsboro. It is held annually to honor student Angela Hohl, who passed away in 2003 from an aggressive form of leukemia just days before starting her senior year at Daniel Boone. This year's Angela Hohl Memorial Blood Drive will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 13, from 3 to 7 p.m.

Two years ago, Miller-Keystone instituted the Thank the Donor program, which allows blood donors and transfusion recipients to connect anonymously via email. "When the recipient or someone from their family wants to thank the individual who donated blood, they can log in (to a website) and put in a number, and it links them and they can send an anonymous email to the actual person whose blood they received," she said. "You know you are doing good, but it is another thing to get an email that says, 'You saved my life.'"

For more information about blood donation and to learn about upcoming local blood drives, visit http://www.giveapint.org or call 800-B-A-DONOR (223-6667) or email info@giveapint.org.