Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital Stages Battle of the Badges Blood Drive
Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital is asking the community to respond to a critical need for blood and show support for local first responders at the Battle of the Badges Blood Drive on July 16.
Appointments are limited, and donors can register now.
In the Battle of the Badges, blood donors can schedule an appointment and choose a team (fire or police) that will receive credit for each unit donated. The team with the most units collected during the drive will win this friendly competition.
Appointments are open between 8 am and 1 pm, MT, Thursday, July 16. The event will take place at the Learning Center in Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital, 12911 W. 40th Ave., Wheat Ridge, Colo.
“We’re asking that residents of Jefferson County step up and donate as we move into the active summer season. It’s vital that we have enough blood to treat patients who are undergoing surgeries and procedures, as well as trauma patients who are brought in from the scene of an accident who are fighting for their lives,” said Kaci Lawrence, pre-analytical lab coordinator at Intermountain Lutheran Hospital.
Every donation saves multiple lives, Lawrence said. One whole blood donation can help multiple patients when separated into its specific components of red cells, plasma, and platelets.
While all blood types are needed, Type O (both O positive and O negative) are in high demand. Type O is the most in-demand blood type and often the first to be depleted from hospital shelves during a shortage.
“It is the blood type used for the majority of our trauma patients,” said Lawrence. “Type O negative is the universal donor blood type and what emergency room personnel reach for when there is a no time to determine the blood type of female and pediatric patients in the most serious situations.”
Type O positive is the most common blood type and can also be transfused to Rh-positive patients of any blood type.
To make an appointment to donate during the Battle of the Badges event, visit https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://donors.vitalant.org/dwp/portal/dwa/appointment/guest/phl/timeSlotsExtr?token=x6FqFFLekThtNCfzOn*2Bhraut5AXviqIP0GOBi6MTCrQ*3D__;JSU!!HnyL5y5g8FOd9kGaVA!GOuQjiwcgSL3rxX79nox613NJ2af---GavDtz53QlZL7F0EVdyrRpuNdyCEJeVdi3IbLA9BaqGZTxNWEvehJpA$ .