Blog Post: Blood Donors Helping Patients in Boston
April 16th, 2013
Late yesterday afternoon, Blood Assurance was asked to ship 5 units of O- red cells to the Rhode 
Island Blood Center to replenish what they had sent to Boston area hospitals. (Rhode Island Blood Center supplies approximately 10% of the hospitals in Boston.)
O- is the universal blood type that is used in emergency situations when a patient’s blood type is unknown.
We were fortunate that our supply was adequate enough to ship these donations. Typically in emergency situations, it is faster for blood centers to reach out to other blood centers for donations that are already on the shelves due to the time involved in collecting, testing and shipping new donations.
We are seeking five O- donors at Blood Assurance to replenish the donations we shipped in order to maintain consistency with our local blood supply. As always, our first commitment is to ensure an adequate supply at the local level and we are thankful for our gracious donors who made it possible for us to help during yesterday’s event.
We will let you know if we are asked to send additional units.
If you would like to donate blood, please call 1-800-962-0628.
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Donor Network Coming to Tullahoma
April 9th, 2013
The Tullahoma area is getting its very own life-saving network. The Blood Assurance Donor Network is a bloodmobile that will be based at the Blood Assurance donor center, located at 1500 N. Jackson Street, and travel throughout the region to be used at blood drives.
Smaller than the other vehicles in the Blood Assurance fleet, the Donor Network is ideal for blood drives at smaller companies, churches and civic groups, which play an instrumental role in ensuring an adequate blood supply for local patients.
Blood Assurance is the only provider of blood donations for all area hospitals, including Harton Regional Medical Center. Each day, a minimum of 400 donations are needed to meet the needs of local hospitals.
The Donor Network’s design features the regional blood center’s social media sites and donors are encouraged to follow Blood Assurance online to learn more. To visit Blood Assurance’s Facebook page, go to www.facebook.com/bloodassurance.
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Special Events: New Storage Depot in Cookeville
April 8th, 2013
Blood Assurance is opening a new storage depot in Cookeville, which will serve as an additional shipping point for emergency blood products.
Platelet donations will be the primary component shipped from the new facility. Platelets have just five days until expiration, starting from the time they are donated by the donor until they are given to the patient. This includes the time it takes to process and test the units.
“By having this emergency supply in closer proximity to the hospital, it allows the hospitals to place more accurate orders when requesting blood products. This gives physicians a peace of mind in knowing that back-up supplies are just minutes away,” said Christopher Swafford, vice-president of operations at Blood Assurance.
Regular daily shipments will continue to be shipped from Blood Assurance’s main facility in Chattanooga.
Blood Assurance, a non-profit regional blood center, is the only provider of blood for Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Cookeville, River Park Hospital in McMinnville, Highlands Medical Center in Sparta, Stones River in Woodbury and DeKalb Community Hospital in Smithville.
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