Archive for category Blood Donors

Resolutions: Never, Not Me.. Well, Just This One!

Resolutions: Never, Not Me.. Well, Just This One!

Stephanie Diehl

Follow me on twitter: @TravelDesigned

I'm all about travel. Adding Service, Value & Experience to your Travel. Love gardening and photography too!

Resolutions: Never, Not Me… Well, Just This One!


I have never been a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I don’t like to make promises I know I am not going to keep, not even to myself. This year though, I have made a resolution and it’s one I can keep!


It all started on January 2nd when on Twitter I received a tweet from my tweep DiffWorldMexico asking me to reach out to my twitter friends with a link to a Facebook page. The page had a plea for blood needed for Phil Pain, a young British student studying in Mexico, who fell from a 7th story balcony on New Year’s Day in Mazatlan. He was in desperate need of a substantial amount of O negative blood before the doctors could even begin to operate.


This really got me thinking about people who travel that experience accidents and about the need for blood everyday in general. I started doing some research on the websites of the American Red Cross and the Canadian Blood Service. What I learned absolutely shocked me! I am sure worldwide the statistics are just as staggering, if not more so.

• Every minute someone in Canada needs blood and every 2 seconds In the United States
• More than 5 million patients a year need blood in the US
• Less than 38% of the population in the US can even give blood and only 8% actually do
• O-negative blood is needed in emergencies before the patient's blood type is known and with newborns who need blood.
• Only 7% of people in the US have the Universal donor blood type, O negative
• Patients from car accidents often require 100 pints
• Cancer patients often need blood during chemotherapy treatments, sometimes daily
• Platelets critical for cancer patients only have a shelf life of 5 days

Procedures. Units Needed.


The good news is:  just one donation can save up to 3 lives! 

It only takes a little over an hour of your time.


So, my first ever New Year’s resolution is to give blood 6 times this year. I know it will make me feel good to know I am helping save lives.

It costs nothing and cookies and juice are involved 

How about you?  Will you join me in my first New Year's resolution? Please let me know on twitter or facebook if you are joining me in my resolution, I would love to hear from you!

                     Give Give the gift of life,    itiiisisit        iiiii  

it's in you to give!!

and if you can't give… will you please encourage your friends, family, co-workers to become donors?

 –heck, encourage your enemies too! 

If you have traveled to the following countries… please check with your blood bank to see if you are eligible to be a donor.

The following information is from   http://www.giveblood.org/index.php?page=faqs

No deferral means –you should be eleigilbe to give blood:

 

Location
  Comments
Mexico

Acapulco – No deferral
Cabo San Lucas – No deferral
Cozumel – no deferral
Cancun – No deferral if you did not travel outside of heavily traveled tourist area or into rural/jungle areas.
Calica – Travel after May 19, 2007 is acceptable if you did not travel outside of heavily traveled tourist area or into rural/jungle areas.
Isla Mujeres – No deferral
Oaxaca – No deferral is stayed in city, travel to rural areas one year from date of return
Playa del Carmen – Travel after May 19, 2007 is acceptable if you did not travel outside of heavily traveled tourist area or into rural/jungle areas.
Progresso – No deferral
Puerto Vallarta – No deferral

Caribbean

Bahamas – No deferral, except for travel to Great Exuma Island which would make donor ineligible to donate for one year after return.
Dominican Republic – large cities and resorts and Puerto Plata – No deferral
Resort of Punta Cana and along border of Haiti – not eligible for 12 months after return.
Grand Cayman – No deferral
Haiti – Not eligible for one year after return
Jamaica – No deferal
Roatan, Honduras – Not eligible for 12 months after return
Puerto Rico – No deferral

Belize

Belize City – No deferral
All other areas outside of Belize City – Not eligible for one year after return

Costa Rica

Provinces of San Jose, Cartago, Puntarenas and Limon City (Jaco Beach, Quepos, Manuel Antonio Park) -no deferral
Provinces of Alajuela (Arenal volcano), Guanacaste (Liberia), Heredia, Limon (except Limon City is acceptable), not eligible to donate for 12 months after you return.

El Salvador

Cities of San Salvador, San Miguel, San Vincente, Sonsonate, and Chalatenango- no deferral.
Rural areas of Santa Ana, Ahuachapan and La Union provinces-not eligible for 12 months after return.

Guatemala

Large cities including Antigua, Lake Atitlan and Guatemala City – no deferral
Risk in rural areas – not eligible for 12 months after return

India

Not eligible for 12 months after return.

Panama

Panama City and Canal area are acceptable.
Travel to provinces of Bocas del Toro, San Blas, San Blas Island and Darien, you are not eligible for 12 months after you return.

Venezuela

Large cities along coast (Caracas, Maracaibo, Valencia) are acceptable.
Travel to rural areas and provinces along borders of Columbia, Guyana and Brazil – not be eligible for one year after return.

Ecuador

Large cities in central highlands acceptable (Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca) and Galapagos Islands – no deferral

Peru

Large cities south of Lima, Cusco, Machupicchu – no deferral

Azerbaijan

Risk in all areas except no risk in Baku

Africa

Algeria – No deferral unless travel to Ihrir or Illizi province
Nigeria – Not eligible for 12 months after return
South Africa – Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth – no deferral.
Game parks, Northern, NE Kwa Zula-Natal, Mpumalanga Provinces – Not Eligible for one year after return

Saudi Arabia

No deferral for cities along East Coast, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Taif, Riyadh, risk in Al Bahah, Al Madinah, Asir, Jizan, Makkah, Najran an Tabuk provinces.

China

Large cities and typical tourist areas including Yangtze River cruise – no deferral.
Travel to rural, non-tourist areas – not eligible for one year after return

United Kingdom

No deferral unless stayed for more than 3 months between 1980 and 1996

Europe

 

No deferral unless stayed for more than 6 months associated with the military between 1980 and 1996 or stayed for more than 5 years from 1980 to the present

 

 PS

I made my first blood donation at the Rock River Valley Blood Center on Thursday, January 14!!  It was a BREEZE!!  I now have to wait until March 11 to make my next one. I will keep you posted.

 

        PSS:

I am so committed to this, I have challeged Bruce Poon Tip and Gap Adventures to a blood drive. If they will conduct a blood drive, I will give $5 per donor (up to $500, HEY! I am just a one woman operation)  to Planeterra in March. Of course, Bruce has accepted! So the challenge is ON!!

I hope I have a couple of REALLY good months… now that I have laid down the gauntlet!

 

For more information about blood donation and to make your appointment, check the links below or contact your local blood bank:

Canadian Blood Service

Red Cross

Americans: Make your appointment here

Follow the American Red Cross on Twitter

Follow the Canadian Blood Service on Twitter

Follow Gap Adventures on Twitter

Follow Bruce Poon Tip on Twitter

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