Now, more than ever, hospitals and patients are in dire need of blood for transfusions. The blood is given to patients depending on their needs. 

The four types of donations are Whole Blood, Power Red, Platelets, and Plasma. Whole blood donation is recommended for all and is given frequently to trauma patients and people undergoing surgery. 

“You can make appointments through the Red Cross app or website. We have what is called whole blood and what is called power red. Most people do the whole blood, but the power red is an automated process called apheresis. It enables us to collect more red blood cells and return your plasma back to you. Blood is needed in the hospitals all the time.  We need blood on the shelves, especially O positive and O negative blood, but we do want all blood types coming in to donate. Please come in to donate with the American Red Cross, we’d love to have you here, ” said one registered nurse and team supervisor with the American Red Cross. 

Power Red donation is recommended for people with O positive, O negative, A negative, and B negative blood types and is given to trauma patients, newborns and emergency transfusions during birth, people with sickle cell anemia, and anyone suffering blood loss.  

Platelets donations are recommended for people with A positive, A negative, B positive, O positive, AB positive and AB negative blood types and is given to cancer patients and surgical patients.

 Plasma donation is recommended for people with AB positive, AB negative blood types and is given to people to stop bleeding and introduce nutrients.

“The process of donating blood isn’t difficult.  If you look on the Red Cross app or website, you’ll find at least a couple of blood drives happening in Pleasanton everyday. I signed up to donate on Saturday May 2 and donated on Friday May 8. The whole appointment took less than two hours with only one and a half hours on the apheresis machine. I didn’t feel any pain or fatigue. The hole closed up in less than half an hour and has completely disappeared two days later. I would recommend donating blood because it helps out others. It also never hurts to get a free blood test every quarter.  Donating blood feels great to me because it’s another reason to eat healthy, exercise, and get some sleep. When I look at it that way, a little hole in my arm for two days [sin]  dudn’t matter,” said Horatio Wolffe (20). 

If you are able, please consider making an appointment with your local hospital or using the provided red cross line to donate some blood. It could potentially help save someone’s life.