In the true holiday tradition of giving, UAB and the American Red Cross will host “Six Days of Giving,” a blood drive to be held at UAB Hospital Dec. 12-17, 2011. Holiday schedules can disrupt normal blood donation schedules and blood is often in short supply at the end of December.
The UAB/Red Cross drive will be on the second-floor atrium of the UAB North Pavilion, 18th Street and Sixth Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Dec. 12-15 and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16-17.
Donors will receive a $5 meal ticket at the UAB Hospital food court, and there will be daily prize giveaways. Donors will also be eligible for a grand prize of an iPad 2. Validated parking is available at the Fourth Avenue parking deck. Donors should bring a photo ID.
UAB is one of the largest users of blood nationally supplied by the Red Cross. Donors can give blood up to six times a year, every eight weeks. The overall process takes about 45 minutes; blood collection usually takes less than 20 minutes.
Blood products are used during surgery, transplantation, trauma care, difficult pregnancies and cancer treatment. It is not unheard of for a single patient to require as many as 100 units of blood.