skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Celebrating Those Who Help Give Life to Others

play audio
Play

Wednesday, June 12, 2019   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinoisans are being encouraged to join a global observance this week that celebrates a critical part of modern medicine. Every two seconds, a person in the United States needs blood, and World Blood Donor Day is an opportunity to thank the unpaid donors who roll up their sleeves to help save lives.

Kirby Winn, public-relations manager for Community Blood Services of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and the Central Illinois Community Blood Center in Springfield, said the annual commemoration is held on June 14 - on the birthday of a Nobel Prize-winning scientist.

"Dr. Karl Landsteiner identified the various different blood types - type A, type B, type O, and type AB - and that there is an Rh factor," Winn said. "World Blood Donor Day is a chance to acknowledge the importance of that discovery, in terms of its impact on transfusion medicine."

Blood centers around the state are hosting special events this weekend to thank donors and encourage regular donations. Winn said summer is an especially crucial time for donations, since the blood supply can drop by as much as 20%. It's estimated that one donation can save up to three lives.

Winn said that Type O-negative blood especially is sought after because it can be given to patients of all blood types. It's estimated that only 10% of people who are able to donate blood actually do so, and Winn said this might be the weekend to change that. Blood donations are always needed, he said.

"That might be for an emergency, or for cancer treatment or surgery, or complications that occurred during childbirth; these are all things that might happen any day of the year," he said, "and so it's our job to make sure that there's blood on the shelf and available at the hospital whenever it's needed."

Potential blood donors must be at least 16 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health. Winn said anyone with questions about his or her eligibility should call a blood-donation center.

"We far prefer that method than anyone assuming on their own basis that they're not eligible to give blood," he said. "We call that a self-deferral and frequently, we find that self-deferrals are made inaccurately, because not all of us have that level of expertise that the staff at the blood center does."

An estimated 6.8 million people in the United States give blood each year.

More information is online at bloodcenter.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021