‘Every two seconds’ blood donation is needed in the U.S.
By Mario Carr EBS CONTRIBUTOR
On Friday, Feb. 23, from 2 to 5 p.m. on the second floor conference room of the Big Sky Medical Center, Vitalant will be hosting its bimonthly Big Sky community blood drive. Appointments are recommended, and Fastracks are encouraged, which can be completed at vitalant.org.
Shawn Muffich, a representative from Vitalant, is helping to get the word out around the Big Sky community about the importance of donating blood, and said that even if you show up without an appointment, she’ll make it happen. Muffich said that she and her team have been coming to Big Sky every other month since 2018.
Muffich said that there’s currently a strong core of about 15 people that donate regularly when the blood drive is in town, and that they’re mostly hospital employees.
“We can’t get this blood off the trees,” Muffich emphasized.
Muffich explained that this blood is important for the people in our community that are battling cancer, new moms with complications following birth, or people involved in tragic accidents.
“And that road driving up to Big Sky, holy cow,” Muffich said.
“It’s a big deal and I just need help getting the word out… All your guys’ surrounding major hospitals—we supply the blood for them,” Muffich said. She went on to explain that they prioritize sending this blood to places like Bozeman, Billings, Butte, and even right back to the BSMC and that your blood donation is being used in your own community.
“Once our hospitals are taken care of, then it actually gets sent out to other hospitals that need it,” Muffich said.
Donated blood has a shelf life of only 45 days, and according to the American Red Cross, somebody needs donated blood every two seconds in the U.S. Muffich emphasized this statistic to encourage people to not just donate once, but to try to donate regularly. Once you’ve donated, you’ll be added to a donor list and eligible to receive notifications about upcoming opportunities to donate again.
“Not everybody can donate. There’s like 30% of people who can’t even donate at all. So the rest of us who can donate, it’s important that we do, because not everybody is able to, for different reasons,” Muffin explained.
“We come to you, instead of you having to travel to one of our centers,” Muffich emphasized.
Muffich is happy to say that she has even had tourists stop in to donate blood while visiting Big Sky.
After donating and your blood has been processed, you can look at your complimentary blood assessment including your hemoglobin levels and blood type.
Muffich wants everybody to be reminded of the fact that we all unfortunately will know somebody close to us that may need blood at some point. “It’s a big deal,” she said.
