BLOOD DONORS NEEDED AS SUPPLIES ARE USED

Blood donations typically decline in the summer. People travel. They're outside more. Their thoughts may not be on giving the gift of life.

But blood demand increases rather dramatically in the summer. Increased travel leads to more accidents. More outside activities spur injuries. This is the time more people should think about giving the gift of life.

Nationwide, blood donations have continued to decline while the demand for transfusions is on the rise. The result, say experts, may be a blood shortage in the next millennium.

The National Blood Data Resource Center in Bethesda, Md., is predicting a national blood shortage in the coming years.

The local blood bank distributes blood to 28 hospitals in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois, including St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. These 28 hospitals receive an average of 30,000 units each year.

The local blood bank keeps 80 to 100 units of blood on hand. Demand changes daily.

Donating blood is kind of like insurance. It's something most people don't think about until disaster strikes.

But to ensure blood supplies are adequate, people need to donate on a regular basis.

The process is neither difficult nor painful. It takes about an hour.

Sure it's a nice thing to do. But this minimal donation of time and blood also saves lives. Blood donors are really community heroes.

There are several upcoming opportunities to earn your badge of honor by donating blood:

-- June 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University Center Program Lounge on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

-- June 25 from noon to 4 p.m. at Orthopedic Associates, 48 Doctors Park.

-- June 29 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the West Park Mall

-- June 30 from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center, 921 North Clark.

Most of the blood donated locally -- between 80 and 90 percent -- stays in the region. Once collected, blood is screened at a national testing center in St. Louis for HIV, hepatitis and other diseases, and returned to the blood banks. It takes about three days from donation to use in local hospitals.

Because the blood is separated into four components, each donation can actually help four different people.

What did you do today? If you donated blood, you became a community hero by helping to save lives.