Sept. 13, 2002 – Juan F. Luis Hospital is asking the St. Croix community to roll up its sleeves. On Sept. 21, the St. Croix Board of Realtors is sponsoring a blood drive to help replenish the hospital's depleted blood supply.
From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the hospital van will be parked at Schooner Bay Marketplace, with staff members on hand to assist with blood donations.
Donors must be at least 17 and weigh 110 pounds. Donors must not have given blood for the last 56 days.
Roger W. Morgan of Rock' N 'Roll Rewind Broadcasting will broadcast live from the blood drive on Mongoose Radio 104.9.
Dwain Ford, Board of Realtors president elect, is calling on members and the public to help.
"We've got a serious problem," Ford said.
On Friday, the hospital had 52 pints of blood on hand, according to Debra Andrews, a technician at the hospital's blood bank. Andrews said the hospital uses about 80 to 110 pints a month, but doesn’t collect even half that much.
The hospital must buy what it doesn’t receive in donations, and blood from the American Red Cross in Puerto Rico is purchased for $250 a pint.
Andrews said that if six people a day gave blood, the hospital would be in good shape. Blood has a 42-day shelf life, so the hospital needs a steady supply to keep it fresh.
"We need people to be aware that we need blood consistently," Andrews said, adding that she hopes other organizations will follow the Board of Realtors’ example and hold other blood drives.
Andrews also suggested that when patients use blood, their family members and friends come by the blood bank to donate, and when patients are in better health, they also give blood to replace what was used.
People may choose to give blood during the week at the hospital, Ford said, between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
People giving blood, at either the hospital or the blood drive, can fill out entry forms to win gift certificates from St. Croix restaurants and stores.
For more information on the blood drive, call the Board of Realtors at 773-1855.
