Give blood, give life in south Placer

When you give blood, you are able to save up to three lives at a time, according to Vitalant Blood Bank officials. This month alone, there are nine blood drives that will take place in south Placer communities. According to Vitalant Blood Bank account manager Gayle Graves, the United States is experiencing a blood shortage for those experiencing life-threatening diseases and injuries who benefit from receiving blood transfusions. This shortage is due to the fact that blood donations are going out to patients at a faster rate than donors are giving. In other words, the lack of people giving blood directly impacts the shortage of blood donations in the country. According to Vitalant's website, Vitalant is the nation's largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing lifesaving blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services. Vitalant has 120 donation centers in the U.S.. Donating blood helps patients of all ages battling cancer, needing organ transplants and blood transfusion, those suffering from genetic disorder, patients undergoing emergency surgery and numerous other hospital departments, according to Vitalant's website. Vitalant in Roseville hosts blood drives in south Placer County every two or three months. According to Vitalant volunteers, this is because donors can only give blood once every eight weeks. When arriving at the blood drive, donors' iron levels are tested and blood pressures and temperatures are measured to determine whether the donor is healthy enough to give blood. The next phase of the blood donation process includes a questionnaire of 51 questions pertaining to a donor's medical history, recent travels and physical attributes such as tattoos and open wounds. Vitalant officials said that every donor gives up to one pint of blood. This month's first blood drive at Sutter Hospital in Roseville was on Thursday. The blood collected will go directly toward Sutter Hospital patients in Roseville. The next blood drive will be from noon to 4 p.m. at 915 Highland Pointe, Suite 190 in Roseville. Auburn's blood drive will be from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at 536 Grass Valley Highway. On Aug. 16, there will be two local blood drives: from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 10030 Foothills Blvd., Roseville and at the Blue Goose Event Center, 3550 Taylor Road, Loomis from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, there will also be two more blood drives in Roseville, both on Aug. 17. The first drive benefits Kaiser Permanente patients in Roseville at 1600 Eureka Road from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. The second drive will be at 1161 Galleria Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The last blood drive in Roseville will be from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24 at 8000 Foothills Blvd. A blood drive will be on Aug. 26 at the Lincoln Veterans Hall, 541 Fifth Street, from 10:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.. According to Vitalant blood bank volunteers, all blood types are always needed, especially O positive and O negative. "Type O positive can be used almost as widely as O negative, which is the universal type that can be used for any patient," Vitalant blood bank officials said. The youngest a donor can be is 16 years old and they must have consent from their parent or guardian. A17 year old can give blood without consent. All who are eligible are urged to make an appointment to donate. Visit vitalant.org, download and use the Vitalant app or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825) for the most updated information.