CityView Magazine

S PECI A L PROMOTION S ECTION advertorial give life. give memories. give blood. the power of a pint c "I'm sorry. I just don't have time." This is the number one reason people won't give blood. But to someone who knows how powerful a pint of blood can be, it sounds more like, "I'm sorry there are patients bleeding to death; that you have babies born so prematurely that they can't make their own red cells yet; that your cancer patient's chemotherapy is not only killing their cancer cells, but also their good platelets, too; that there's a patient whodes- perately needs open-heart surgery but you must postpone surgery because you don't have enough of the right type of blood; I'm sorry, I just don't have time." There's always more work to do, a dog that needs to be walked, dinner that needs to be made, a show to catch, a house to be cleaned, errands to run, a friend to see, and so on. Let's face it; we all could use more time in our day, but others need more time in their life, and you have the power to give it. 4 | September/October • 2012 Every month, Cape Fear Valley Health transfuses about 1,100 units of blood. That means that every month, 1,100 local volunteer blood donors are needed to sup- port the needs of our friends, family and neighbors. Previously called the Blood Assurance Plan, Cape Fear Valley Blood Donor Cen- ter has been our community's blood bank since 1963. Having our very own com- munity blood bank, offers us an opportu- nity to be of service to ourselves and to the community. It also helps provide timely transfusions to our patients, because we don't have to rely on shipped blood from across the country, if it's even available. This in turn keeps our local hospital's costs down. As a non-profit, the Blood Do- nor Center would not be able to provide enough blood to our patients if it weren't for local volunteer donors. Despite the fact that one in seven people entering the hospital need a blood transfu- sion, less than five percent of the popula- tion donates. Blood donated to Cape Fear Valley Blood Donor Center goes to pa- tients at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital and Bladen County Hospital. The Blood Do- nor Center has a neighborly relationship with Womack Army Medical Center, in which if either has an emergency need of a specific blood type, we help each other out. Each hospital in the county works together for the good of our citizens. With the extensive travel restrictions set by the Food and Drug Administration, the re- cruitment of eligible donors is difficult in a military town. Despite our county's ever- increasing population, our pool of donors is diminishing. The need continues to in- crease with people living longer, advances in medical treatments and Cape Fear Val- ley Health's expanded services. cape fear v alley blood donor center

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