UTM will be hosting a LifeLine Blood Drive in the University Center from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, through Wednesday, Feb. 6.
UTM has been the host of such blood drives for over 20 years. Each year, students and faculty donate over 800 units and save over 1,600 lives. Each donor can give up to one pint of blood which is the same as one unit, and a unit of blood can be divided to help two patients in need.
LifeLine, an organization based out of Jackson, focuses on patients in West Tennessee and estimates that this year they will need 24,000 units of blood to meet the needs of these patients.
Tammy Hurst, the community service coordinator for Benton, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Obion, Decatur and Weakley Counties for LifeLine Blood Services, recounts that there are at least three bloodmobiles, operating five days a week, taking volunteer donations at various locations throughout West Tennessee.
LifeLine supplies blood and all blood products to 19 counties, 20 hospitals and eight Air Evac helicopters in West Tennessee.
LifeLine’s website also includes information on how to register as a blood donor online as well as information on how, where and on whom your donation is being used.
For the upcoming drive, you do not have to be registered ahead of time, but it could make the check-in process faster.
Donors must eat at least two hours before donating and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water before and after donating. During this drive, each donor will receive a long-sleeved t-shirt.
For more information on the locations they serve, and their mobile donation center locations visit: http://lifelinebloodserv.org/
The Lifeline Blood Services bus parked in front of the UC for the Spring blood drive on February 5, 2019. | Photo Credit/Anna Baker
