Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools January 2014 | Page 7

Fairview blood drive could save 54 lives

If a single blood donation can save
three lives, then a recent blood drive
at Fairview Elementary School has the
potential to save 54 lives.
Fairview’s fourth-grade Academically
and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Classes
partnered with the Community Blood
Center of the Carolinas (CBCC) earlier
this month in an effort to help meet the
ongoing need for blood donations.
“Each and every unit of blood donated
to CBCC stays here in our community to
support local patients,” said the event
coordinator Rachel Seighman, an AIG
teacher at Fairview Elementary.
The drive brought out 27 individuals
who donated 18 units of blood. “A single
Fairview Elementary School
counselor, Rachel Seighman,
blood donation can save three local lives.”
center, poses with two fourthSeighman said.
grade AIG students, who each
Seighman explained that whole
invited three family members to
blood is separated into three individual
come participate in the school’s
components: platelets, red cells and
blood drive.
plasma. Cancer and cardiac patients are
the two largest recipients of blood, and
nearly 50 percent of blood donations are used in their treatments, she said.
“We would like to thank all of our donors for donating their blood and saving
a life!” Seighman said.

Did you know???
n One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
n Every two seconds someone in the U.S.
needs blood.
n More than 41,000 blood donations are
needed every day.
n A total of 30 million blood components are
transfused each year in the U.S.
n The average red blood cell transfusion is
approximately 3 pints.
n The blood type most often requested by
hospitals is Type O.
n The blood used in an emergency is already
on the shelves before the event occurs.
n Sickle cell disease affects more than 70,000
people in the U.S. About 1,000 babies are
born with the disease each year. Sickle cell
patients can require frequent blood transfusions
throughout their lives.
n More than 1.6 million people were
diagnosed with cancer last year. Many of them
will need blood, sometimes daily, during their
chemotherapy treatment.
n A single car accident victim can require as
many as 100 pints of blood.

RedCross.org

Written by: Rachel Seighman, AIG teacher at Fairview Elementary

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Parent Teacher Magazine • January/February 2014 • 5