AMERICA IS ALMOST OUT OF BLOOD?

Human blood, 

unlike computers, 

smartphones, and cars, 

cannot be manufactured, 

and no substitute for it 

has yet been invented.

At the same time, blood, like fresh produce, is a perishable product, with platelets lasting five days and red blood cells 42. 

But why do we run 

out of blood, anyway? 

Donors, who are the raw material suppliers of blood products, typically can donate no more than three times per year!

20% of blood donations come from schools.

During the summer months those schools are closed.

Summer Vacations with their trips and projects further diminish the number of those who donate.

To put it in more personal terms:

One of the hospitals in a near-by Texas city uses over 700 blood units a month.  

In a year 

that is about 87,000 

units of blood!

That is just one of the ten major hospitals that that city's center services. 

Multiply that by the thousands of blood centers across America!

And all those summer road trips?  

The number of summer highway accidents multiply worse than the number of flies on your picnic table.

You can see the problem for blood centers in the summer months.

So think about donating blood 

this summer. 

 A teaspoon of your blood can save 

the life of a premature baby.