An hour of time can save three lives.
That’s the message of the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, as each donation to the blood bank may benefit three separate patients—all of them local.
“The unit of blood we collect when you’re donating is called a whole blood unit,” explained spokesman Jay Wimer. “That’s put into a centrifuge and spun down into three components. The red cells will go to one patient, the plasma to another and the platelets to a third. That’s why we say, ‘One donation, three lives.’”
The blood bank’s model of donation and distribution keeps almost all donations in the area, with blood sent out only when there’s a real need.
“We’re part of a large consortium of small blood banks who are called on when something happens like the shooting in Orlando,” Wimer said. “We’re on alert and connected so we can share resources if there’s an emergency need, but most of what we collect in the region is staying in the region.”
The organization has supported the immediate needs of the community for more than six decades, created by a team of Harrisburg doctors in 1953.
“Ground had just been broken on a hospital in a cornfield in Hershey,” Wimer said. “With that, and the technology becoming a reality at the time for things like operations, transplants and transfusions, they knew they needed a local blood program.”
That need has grown more significant with the growth of the region’s population and medical centers. Today, the blood bank is responsible for supplying 15 hospitals, where more than 120,000 units of blood and blood products are transfused annually.
“The blood needs in this region are basically constant,” Wimer said. “We’re holding about seven blood drives a day, seven days a week, probably 363 days a year.”
It’s vital to have a continual, fresh supply of blood because of the short lifespan of the platelet, which is only good for about five days after donation.
“If we don’t have blood drives on a Monday, five days from then we may not have a single platelet,” he said. “We pretty much have to be going all the time.”
Despite the near-daily blood drives, Wimer said that shortages are a continuing problem, not just in the Harrisburg region but throughout the country. Shortages can be especially critical around the holiday season and during harsh winters.
“Only about 5 percent of the population donates, and there are a lot of people who need transfusions,” he said. “The current statistic is that one in every five people entering a hospital will need a transfusion. I can’t think of a time when we’ve said, ‘We have enough, let’s take a break.’”
Much of the need stems from the variety of medical conditions that make transfusions a necessity.
“The red cell is used in transplants and trauma,” Wimer said. “Plasma is used for burn victims and trauma patients who are in shock. Platelets are predominantly used for people dealing with cancer. The game of chemotherapy is it’s poison, and the goal is to kill the cancer before it kills the patient. In doing so, it knocks down our platelets.”
In addition to 12 donation centers across Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, York, Adams, Lebanon and Lancaster counties, the blood bank runs mobile drives using five bloodmobiles, which visit area events, companies, libraries and schools. The schools, Wimer said, represent the highest concentration of donors.
“These 16- and 17-year-olds are coming out and doing this on a pretty regular basis, even though they’re sometimes nervous about it, and they always make it through,” Wimer said. “If you’re ever concerned about the future of humanity, all you have to do is come to a high school blood drive and you’ll be like, ‘I think we’re going to be OK.’”
To learn more about the Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank, visit www.cpbb.org.
Author: Kate Morgan
