A blood donation is needed every two seconds. What if everyone decided they didn’t need to donate because someone else would? Would there be enough blood available when you or a loved one needed it?

A whole blood donation is approximately one pint of blood. But a single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood!

Because only 3% of eligible people donate blood each year, our nation’s blood supply doesn’t always meet the demand.

Community’s employee blood drive

Dr. Sarah Minasyan [pictured], a cardiothoracic surgeon at Community Regional Medical Center knows how important it is to have blood on demand. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to use it, but we won’t do the surgery unless we know we have it,” Minasyan explained.

Recently, Minasyan and other hospital employees evaluated how much blood the Level I Trauma Center uses compared to other hospitals. The conversation turned from ‘how do we take care of ourselves’ to ‘how do we take care ourselves and more’?

To answer this question, Community employees started their own blood drive. “We take care of the Fresno community in many ways and we’re not afraid to donate our own blood so that we can make sure that these services are provided to our patients in a timely fashion,” Minaysan added.

Blood donation is a simple four-step process

• Step 1: Register. Provide basic information like name, address and photo ID.
• Mini-Physical and Interview. Check your pulse, blood pressure, temperature and iron levels. A confidential interview will ask questions about your general health and medical history.
• The Blood Donation. One pint of blood is collected and takes approximately 15 minutes.
• Relax. After your donation, enjoy refreshments to help replenish your fluids. Normal daily activities can be resumed once your feel refueled.

Click here for more information on the blood donation process and how you can save a life of someone in your community.