Vitalant – Transforming Lives Through Donating Blood
Did you know that one unit of blood can save up to three lives? Vitalant is transforming lives through blood donations nationwide and regionally they need our help.
cityCURRENT Digital Media Director, Andrew Bartolotta, discusses Vitalant’s impact in our community and ways you can help impact the lives through blood donation with Vitalant Regional Director, David Williams.
Vitalant, formerly known as LifeBlood, has proudly served the Memphis community for more than 50 years. Vitalant, like all volunteer blood donation centers in the U.S. is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only volunteer blood donation centers like Vitalant can supply hospitals; for-profit blood/plasma centers supply pharmaceutical/cosmetic research companies and others.
LifeBlood used to collect 50,000+ units of blood annually; today, Vitalant collects a little more than 20,000 units. As a result, Vitalant imports more than 50% of the blood used locally from other Vitalant regions in MS, LA, TX, AZ and NM. It is our intent for the Memphis area to be self-sufficient in blood donations and not have to rely on donors from other states.
At a time when the average blood supply for Memphis is plus or minus 3 days, it is critical that Vitalant, with community buy-in, provide a consistent and steady flow of blood to serve our family members, friends, co-workers and loved ones. And yes, also perfect strangers.
Learn more: www.vitalant.org or http://www.vitalant.org/covidfree