A lot of people dream about being a superhero and saving lives. We may not be able to fly through the sky or have incredible strength, but we can save lives with only an hour of our time by donating blood. Here are a few reasons to consider donating:
- Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. This means more than 38,000 blood donations are needed per day
- Currently less than 38% of the population is eligible to donate, with only 3 out of every 100 Americans actually donating
- There are four types of transfusable products that can be derived from a pint of whole blood: red cells, platelets, plasma and cryoprecipitate. As each pint of donated whole blood is separated into two or three of these products, each donation can help save up to three lives
- There are some great ways you can improve your own health by giving blood, too. You can reduce your iron levels by giving blood, and that can reduce your risk of hemochromatosis, which is a disease affecting one out of every 200 people. It causes unsafe iron stores in your blood, and the removal of red blood cells is a recommended treatment. The excess levels of iron in the blood can put you at a higher risk for cancer, too, and if you donate blood you can reduce your cancer risk. Additionally, people who donate just once per year reduce their heart attack risk by 88 percent
Ieuter Insurance Group employees are proud to help with this growing need by hosting a few blood drives. If you are interested in being a donor at our next drive on August 2, 2016 please contact us. “You’re going to make a difference. A lot of times it won’t be huge, it won’t be visible even. But it will matter just the same.” (Commissioner James Gordon, Batman)