Platelets are used for patients with cancer or other chronic diseases.
Frederick, Md (KM) The Red Cross is in need of more platelet donors. “Platelets are super-critical for clotting component of blood,” says Curt Luthye, the Executive Director of the Red Cross for Frederick, Montgomery and Howard Counties. “Most often they’re used by people who have cancer. And about every 15 to 30 seconds, somebody in the US needs platelets either for a surgery or their cancer treatment.”
Platelets are contained in a person’s blood.
The process of donating platelets takes longer that giving whole blood. Luthye says donating whole blood usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour. But platelet donations take about two hours.
Luthye says platelets don’t last as long in storage as whole blood. “The shelf life is quick: five days. So it’s getting to patients very, very quickly. And you’ll actually have an impact in somebody’s else live the same week you donate,” he says.
Which is why, he says, persons who donate platelets can give more often each year compared to persons donating whole blood. “The reason that a person might want to do platelets directly whereas you can only give whole blood every 56 days, you can give platelets up to 24 times a year,” says Luthye.
The Red Cross says Al Whitney from Ohio is traveling across the US to donate platelets in each of the 50 states. On Wednesday, August 6th, he made a stop at the Frederick Red Cross Blood Center at 141 Thomas Johnson Drive to give platelets.
Anyone who wants to give platelets can call the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment. They can also go on line to RedCrossBLood.org.
By Kevin McManus