Blood Services

The Piedmont Carolina Chapter is part of the Carolinas Blood Services Region. The chapter supports approximately 15-20 blood drives each month throughout Alamance and Caswell Counties. During the 2010 fiscal year, we collected over 7,500 units of blood.

The Carolinas Blood Services Region serves 102 hospitals and covers 4 states: North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and parts of South Carolina. Team Carolinas aims to collect 1,500 units of blood each day in order to assist in the care of patients. Annually, the Carolinas Region collects more than 350,000 units of blood, and is the leading Red Cross region in the nation in collections.

Blood is used for cancer patients, elective or emergency surgery, premature babies, and accident victims. It is estimated that 95% of people in the U.S. will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives, while only 5% of those eligible will actually donate.

Blood collected at drives in the community is commonly called whole blood. Whole blood can be broken down into its three main components: red cells, platelets, and plasma.

Team Carolinas has also introduced the automated donation technology that collects a product that we call “double red cells.” With this technology, donors will provide two units of red blood cells. Blood is still drawn from just one arm and is sent through a sterile kit attached to a machine that can separate the red cells and return the remaining blood to the donor.

Each year, the Carolinas Region shows its appreciation to the chapters who help support blood collections at an event called Celebration of Excellence (COE). Chapters receive awards for achieving goal at a 92 percent efficiency rate for the fiscal year of July 1 to June 30. For 2010, the Piedmont Carolina Chapter achieved 87.5% of goal with 94.2% efficiency.

If you are interested in donating blood, please call the chapter and we will help you schedule an appointment at an upcoming drive. Alternatively, you can click on the link below to schedule an appointment online.