Published: March 10, 2008 10:52 pm         

Blood supplies critical; donors should give now

The flu epidemic sweeping Oklahoma has affected schools, businesses — you name it.

Just about any place where people congregate has seen the results. Students have missed school. Employees have missed work.

One of the less obvious results — but perhaps the most important — is the drop in people who have been well enough to give blood.

Donations are down with both Oklahoma Blood Institute and American Red Cross. As of the weekend, OBI was down 520 pints, while Red Cross was down 500.

If that trend continues, the results could be critical for our state’s hospitals. For instance, OBI is a non-profit regional blood center supporting 110 hospitals in Oklahoma and north central Texas.

It doesn’t take long to donate a pint of whole blood, and the process is fairly simple. The basic requirements are you have to be in good health, be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. There are other requirements people at OBI will discuss with you when you go to donate.

The various parts of your blood can help a variety of patients. Anemic patients and patients having transplants or heart surgery need red cells, usually many units. Red cells carry the hemoglobin and oxygen in our body.

Burn or trauma patients, patients with hematologic disorders, organ transplant recipients and newborns use plasma, the liquid portion of blood.

Platelets help with clotting and benefit patients who develop bleeding disorders from leukemia, cancer therapy or open heart surgery.

Right here in Enid, you can go to Northwest Oklahoma Blood Institute, 301 E. Cherokee, and donate. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. You also can call 233-9323 or (800) 299-9323 to make an appointment.

If you are healthy, take the time to visit NWOBI and donate a pint of blood. You could be a lifesaver.