Latest news with #blooddonation
Associated Press
2 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
High school donors and blood drives make lifesaving impact on blood supply
Davenport, Iowa, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ImpactLife is recognizing the contributions of 536 high school students who earned the blood center's Student Impact Award during the 2024-25 school year. The award is given to students who give blood, recruit donors, and/or organize blood drives while in high school. To receive the Student Impact Award, recipients must earn six credits in any of the following categories before high school graduation: 'Across our region, ImpactLife is fortunate to work with students who want to develop their leadership skills while supporting health and wellness in their community,' said Lindsay Erhardt-Hansen, Manager, Donor Relations. 'We appreciate our Student Impact Award recipients for their commitment to supporting the blood supply, and we look forward to seeing the positive difference they'll make long into the future.' Student Impact Award recipients receive an award certificate and a red cord that signifies the connection between the blood donor, ImpactLife, and patients who have been helped by the student's support of our region's blood supply. With permission from their school, students may choose to wear the red cord in their high school graduation ceremony. (For more information on the Student Impact Award, see School-based blood drives are a significant source of support for our region's blood supply. ImpactLife will hold 515 blood drives with high schools held during the 2024-25 school year, leading to more than 10,000 donations by donors 16 to 19 years of age, many as first-time blood donors. ImpactLife offers its LifeSavings Grant to recognize schools for their substantial contribution to our region's blood supply. Primary and secondary schools that host blood drives qualify for the grant program by sponsoring blood drives that collect at least 20 donations. LifeSavings Grants can be used to fund scholarships, make a charitable donation, provide for classroom or curriculum needs, or help defray expenses related to the blood drive. Following each blood drive, schools can apply to receive a grant of $250, plus one dollar for each donation. While LifeSavings Grant applications are still being submitted for the 2024-25 school year, the blood center has processed 451 successful grant applications year-to-date, with $127,672 in grants awarded. (More information at With 2024-25 education sector blood drives coming to an end, ImpactLife has reached a challenging time of year when the donor recruitment team looks to increase appointment schedules at Donor Centers and community blood drives to make up for donations the blood center won't collect at schools during summer break. To find an ImpactLife Donor Center location or mobile blood drive, call (800) 747-5401, text 'lifesaver' to 999-777, or schedule online at or via the ImpactLife mobile app ( ). Donors Enjoy Perks and Benefits: Through ImpactLife's Donor For Life program, donors receive their choice of an electronic gift card, bonus points for the Rewards Store OR a charitable donation to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit of the donor's choice via the blood center's Good Giving program. To help improve schedules at ImpactLife donor center locations, ImpactLife is offering $20 in bonus value (or 1000 bonus points) for donations made at ImpactLife Donor Centers through June 8. Rewards grow in value with each donation in a calendar year. See the table at for complete information. About ImpactLife ImpactLife's mission is to save lives by engaging donors, supporting partners, and advancing medicine. Founded in 1974, ImpactLife supplies blood products and services to hundreds of hospitals, emergency services organizations, clinical researchers, and other blood centers throughout Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri. The nonprofit blood provider is ranked among the leading 12 blood suppliers in the United States. For more information on current blood inventory levels, our donor promotions, and more, see and find us @impactlifeblood on Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Attachments Kirby Winn ImpactLife (563) 349-1571 [email protected]
News.com.au
2 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Can't do it': Type-O blood reserves hit dire lows, calls for urgent donations
Reserves of O-type blood are running critically low in Australia. The Red Cross has issued an urgent call for an extra 9500 donations within the next week. 'Every day, we issue close to 10,000 blood transfusions and medications to hospitals around the country to meet patient demand and we can't do it without people donating,' Red Cross Lifeblood executive director Stuart Chesneau said. 'Right now, we're seeing the highest rates of people rescheduling or cancelling their appointments since June last year, and our O-type blood supplies are at their lowest level since October 2023.' O-negative is the universal blood type that paramedics and rescue helicopters carry. About 7 per cent of Australians have O-negative blood, but about 16 per cent of blood used by hospitals is O-negative. 'What many people don't know is that O-positive is as safe as O-negative for the majority of emergency transfusions. Some 40 per cent of people in Australia have O-positive blood, meaning they too can help save lives in emergency situations,' Mr Chesneau said. 'We're asking people of all blood types who are feeling healthy and well, especially those with O-type blood, to make an appointment.' Previous Lifeblood research estimates 57 per cent of Australians are eligible to give blood, but only 3 per cent donate regularly.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Blood donation: Rare blood donors wanted to help sickle cell patients
"I wouldn't say it's quite like a superpower but I do think it's amazing that something that you just happened to be born with can help so many people."Speaking inside the busiest blood donation centre in Europe, Julia Gryn, from Thornton Heath in south London, has popped into donate after 27-year-old is just one of about 100 donors on the NHS Blood and Transplant's (NHSBT) Rare Donor Panel. Out of about 800,000 blood donors, those on the panel make up just 0.01%.Speaking at London's West End Donor Centre on Margaret Street, she said: "I think it's really, really amazing that I can actually help someone with a genetic disorder." She added: "It's crazy to think that a single blood donation can help to save up to three lives." Julia's blood is rare because she lacks several of the most common antigens across multiple blood group the 350 known antigens, her unique combination does not include the K, M, S, Fya and Jkb, all of which are frequently found in the general blood type is especially important for those with sickle cell, a genetic blood disorder whereby patients develop antibodies against several blood types making it harder to find matching blood. Julia, who has donated blood since she was a teenager, was invited to join the Rare Donor Panel in May 2020, early in the Covid pandemic. "At the time, I thought my blood was completely ordinary," she joining the panel, she said it felt different from her regular donations."It feels much more personal. I'm told when a specific patient needs a closely matched donation, and I book in around that. Knowing there's someone waiting who needs exactly what I can give makes the experience feel more direct and meaningful."She added: "During my first donation, one of the team members told me that in their seven years working there, I was the first rare blood donor they'd encountered. That really stuck with me."Blood donation is an amazing thing - most people can do it, and it makes such a big difference." Dr Chiara Vendramin, speciality doctor in donor medicine for the panel said donors like Julia were difficult to find."Julia is a very special donor. She has been amazing through the several years that she has been donating."Rare donors are very important and they play a crucial role in our organisation because they allow us to meet the really complex blood requirements that we have for specific patients."Most of the blood of these blood requirements are for those with sickle cell disease."As for Julia, what would her message be to those worried about donating?"I would say it's honestly not as scary as some people think."I do get some of my co-workers and friends asking 'how does it go, is the needle really big?' Honestly, you don't even pay attention to it, it goes so quickly."Everyone is always so kind and I would say it's a small thing that you can really do to help and save lives."
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Made-to-order ‘before midnight' transfusion helps save mother's life
A woman saved by a 'fake immune system' blood donation has described how her treatment has given her a 'lifeline' as she urged people to sign up to become blood donors. Fahreen Virani, 42, said her life came 'crashing down' when she was diagnosed with leukaemia last year. After chemotherapy she needed a stem cell transplant but was struck down by pneumonia which was not responding to usual treatments. As a result, Mrs Virani was told she needed a special 'before midnight' transplant of components taken from blood. Granulocytes are white blood cells which attack and break down bacteria, fungi and viruses. But they have a short shelf life and have to be given to a recipient before midnight the day after donation. Transfusions of granulocytes are made using normal blood donations but have to be quickly tested and processed before being rushed to hospital. Mrs Virani, a dentist from Waltham Forest in north-east London, said: 'I remember waking up early every day thinking 'are they here, are they here?' 'If you go past midnight, they have to dispose of them, they expire, that's why I was always so eager. 'I knew this would lessen the fungal pneumonia and that then I would be fitter and healthier so I could have the stem cell transplant. 'They drastically helped me to be ready for the transplant, they were a lifeline.' Mrs Virani, who has a son, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February 2024 after noticing symptoms of tiredness, backache and low haemoglobin counts. 'I was terrified. I had a boy who was going to turn four two days later,' she said. 'We had a young family, we had just moved house, and everything came crashing down.' She had chemotherapy so her body would accept a stem cell transplant but the chemotherapy also prevented her bone marrow from making enough white blood cells, making her vulnerable to the fungal pneumonia. 'The doctors said that when someone has a stem cell transplant there's a 10% chance it will result in death but with the fungal pneumonia it was 30%,' Mrs Virani said. 'They treated me with antifungals but that didn't fully work, so that's why they started the granulocytes – it would give me a fake immune system.' Each granulocytes transfusion is made for a single patient. A standard transfusion is two packs, with each pack made from 10 blood donations. Fewer than 2,000 packs are sent to hospitals each year, NHS Blood and Transplant said. As a result of the treatment, Mrs Virani received her stem cell transplant in July last year. 'I can walk my son to school every day,' she said. 'We can go to Hyde Park and hire a bike. A few months ago, I never dreamed I would be able to do that. 'The donors whose blood was used for the granulocytes are in my prayers every night. I am so immensely grateful. I don't know where I would be without them.' NHS Blood and Transplant has highlighted low blood stocks in England and concerns have been raised over a dip in donors over the summer. Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: 'Your blood contains all kinds of components such as red blood cells, plasma, platelets, and white blood cells, which can all be separated out to save or improve several lives. 'So as well helping people with your red cells, the same donation could give someone like Fahreen a potentially lifesaving immune system boost. 'But to keep supplying hospitals this summer we need more donors. 'We hope Fahreen's story shows the unusual and unexpected ways that blood is so vital to the wider NHS. 'Our stocks are low and we need people to register and book appointments at
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Made-to-order blood transfusion helps save London mother's life
A woman from north-east London said her life came "crashing down" when she was diagnosed with leukaemia last year, but was given a "lifeline" when she was saved by a blood donation that acted like a "fake immune system".Fahreen Virani, 42, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February 2024 after noticing symptoms of tiredness, backache and low haemoglobin chemotherapy, the dentist from Waltham Forest needed a stem cell transplant, but contracted pneumonia which was not responding to usual treatments. As a result, Mrs Virani was told she needed a special "before midnight" transplant of components taken from blood. "I was terrified. I had a boy who was going to turn four two days later," she said."We had a young family, we had just moved house, and everything came crashing down." Ms Virani had chemotherapy so her body would accept a stem cell transplant however the chemotherapy also prevented her bone marrow from making enough white blood cells, making her vulnerable to the fungal pneumonia."The doctors said that when someone has a stem cell transplant there's a 10% chance it will result in death but with the fungal pneumonia it was 30%," Ms Virani said."They treated me with antifungals but that didn't fully work, so that's why they started the granulocytes – it would give me a fake immune system." Granulocytes are white blood cells which attack and break down bacteria, fungi and viruses but they have a short shelf life and have to be given to a recipient before midnight the day after granulocytes transfusion is made for a single patient and a standard transfusion consists of two packs, with each one made from 10 blood donations. They have to be quickly tested and processed before being rushed to hospital."I remember waking up early every day thinking 'are they here, are they here?'"If you go past midnight, they have to dispose of them, they expire, that's why I was always so eager."They drastically helped me to be ready for the transplant, they were a lifeline."As a result of the treatment, Ms Virani received her stem cell transplant last July."I can walk my son to school every day," she said. "We can go to Hyde Park and hire a bike. A few months ago, I never dreamed I would be able to do that."The donors whose blood was used for the granulocytes are in my prayers every night. I am so immensely grateful. I don't know where I would be without them." 'Need more donors' Fewer than 2,000 packs are sent to hospitals each year, NHS Blood and Transplant said.A spokesperson added they were low blood stocks in England and raised concerns over a dip in donors over the Gogarty, from NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Your blood contains all kinds of components such as red blood cells, plasma, platelets, and white blood cells, which can all be separated out to save or improve several lives."So as well helping people with your red cells, the same donation could give someone like Fahreen a potentially lifesaving immune system boost."But to keep supplying hospitals this summer we need more donors."We hope Fahreen's story shows the unusual and unexpected ways that blood is so vital to the wider NHS."
