Updated 6-10-19 12:01 p.m.
CULLMAN, Ala. – Every summer, the LifeSouth Community Blood Centers hold a blood drive competition between Cullman City and Cullman County employees. This year’s drive, which honored the memories of Cullman County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Timmy Puckett and Matt Osborn, Sgt. Arvel Allison and Cullman Today’s Tim Collins, seemed ready to exceed last year’s totals. The rewards for the winner are usually just bragging rights and a sense of pride, though all donors are rewarded with food, a free shirt, and the knowledge that their donation could help save up to three lives within north Alabama.
This year added a new aspect to the drive: the very same day, LifeSouth issued a press release stating that it was in emergency need for all blood types.
The competition
Normally there are four LifeSouth buses available to take donations for the city and county (two for each), but this year an unfortunate incident left one bus out of commission. The county-specific bus was located at the Wal-Mart on Olive Street, the city-specific bus was at the Wal-Mart on Alabama Highway 157, and the bus at Dick’s Sporting Goods acted as a neutral ground where donors declared their preference upon registration. As of 2 p.m. Friday afternoon, there had been more than 100 donations, though the exact breakdown of city v. county donors was unclear; however, it seemed like the city was in the lead.
Eric Franchois, the district community development coordinator for LifeSouth, said the goal for this year’s drive was 150 donations, and he felt confident that the three hours remaining would see that goal met. He also provided the numbers for the 2018 drive – 71 city donations and 85 county donations for a total of 156 – and promised to get the exact breakdown of this year’s drive by Monday.
The emergency
Earlier on Friday, LifeSouth announced that it had declared an emergency appeal for all blood types. This type of announcement is only made in severe circumstances, and it means that the LifeSouth storage center in Madison only has a two-day supply of blood (at most) ready to be sent to the 14 hospitals it serves around north Alabama. Franchois, along with LifeSouth recruiter Melanie Moore, both explained that the summer is usually a difficult time for blood centers around the country.
“Our shelves our bare. During the summer, people go traveling a lot, so we end up losing a lot of regular donors,” Moore stated.
Franchois added, “Since school’s out, we can’t really hold blood drives at high schools and colleges, which are some of our biggest sources of blood.”
Increased risk of vehicular accidents means more demand for blood, and when combined with a decreased supply of donors, results in a shortage that would delay surgeries or have severe limitations in the event of a natural disaster.
While all blood types are needed, O negative is a high-priority type, followed by other negative types. Donors for platelets are also critical at this time. While blood donors can donate at any of the upcoming blood drives (see schedule below), platelets must be donated at a designated LifeSouth donor center. Information on donor centers and types of donations can be found at http://lifesouth.org/donation-info/.
Donating
For those interested in donating, all donors must meet a few basic requirements: be at least 17 years old (or 16 with parent/legal guardian permission), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, be in generally good health and present a photo ID (especially new donors). A brief physical and interview about individual medical history will determine more in-depth eligibility. While there could be some complications such as dizziness or decreased iron content (especially for repeat donors), Franchois said there are also health benefits like decreased risk of cardiac arrest.
“It’s a bit like giving your body an oil change,” he said. “You’re losing some of the older blood cells, so your body has to produce new, fresh ones.”
When asked Friday about how the blood drive was going, Moore said, “We’ve gotten a boatload of donations at this drive on past years, and we are so grateful to the people of Cullman County. They are some of the most generous donors on the face of the planet. This City v. County drive is always a huge draw, and with the emergency appeal now the timing couldn’t be better.”
June 11 blood drives
Attalla Health Care and Rehab (Stewart Ave.) Attalla, 10-4
Southwire Company (Helton Dr.) Florence, 6:30-12
Department of Human Resources (Oakwood Ave.) Huntsville, 9-2
HFI, LLC (4th St.) Arab, 11:30-4
Walgreens (2nd Ave. NW) Cullman, 10-4
Magnolia Trace (Crown Cir.) Huntsville, 9-3
LG Electronics (James Record Rd.) Huntsville, 8-5
Walmart (Oakwood Ave.) Huntsville, 3-4:30
Dollar General (E Pike Rd.) Falkville, 10-4
Dick’s Sporting Goods/Field & Stream (Cox Creek Pkwy.) Florence, 1-7
LifeSouth Donor Centers for north Alabama can be found in Decatur, Florence, Huntsville, Madison and Albertville.
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