12-23-97
By Stephen Swanson, 541-737-0789
SOURCE: Douglas Tracy, 503-284-0011, Ext. 402
CORVALLIS - The fall blood drive at Oregon State University collected 895 pints of blood - a total which may benefit four times that many people, according to Douglas Tracy, American Red Cross senior consultant for donor services.
"Because each unit of blood collected can be made into four products, as many as 3,580 people may benefit from the blood donated at the OSU drive," Tracy said.
The three-day drive ran from Nov. 11-13. First-time donors made up 20 percent of donations with 177 new donors rolling up their sleeves, Tracy said. Donors come from on-campus as well as surrounding communities.
Type "O" blood made up for 44 percent of the donations, Tracy said. Type O blood is the most common blood type and accounts for almost half of all blood ordered daily by hospitals.
Oregon State hosts four Red Cross blood drives each year, with sessions held during the campus' winter, spring, summer and fall terms. The OSU drives are largest held by the Red Cross Pacific Northwest Regional Blood Services, which services 90 hospitals in more than 30 counties in Oregon and Washington.
The next OSU blood drive is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 10-12 in the university's Memorial Union Ballroom. Much of the work on the campus blood drive is performed by volunteers, including students, faculty, staff, as well as people from surrounding communities.
The American Red Cross is the nation's largest collector, processor, tester and distributor of blood, supplying 3,000 hospitals through the donations of some 22,000 people daily.
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