Be a Hero: How your blood donation can help babies in the NICU

Every drop of blood you give can save lives, especially the tiniest patients in the NICU.

Next Wednesday, you can be their hero by participating in KSBY and Vitalant’s annual Be a Hero Blood Drive.

Dr. Steven Van Scoy, the medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, says NICU babies that need transfusions can only receive blood from donors who have not been exposed to cytomegalovirus or CMV.

CMV is a flu-like virus that most adults are exposed to. That’s why CMV-negative blood is very rare.

While the virus is generally harmless to adults, it can be fatal to babies.

“The CMV-negative blood that allows us to give it to the babies is very important for the families because it gets their babies through that fragile time, allows them to grow older and thrive and have great childhoods and lives in general,” Dr. Van Scoy explained. “I’ve known a number of patients who would not have been alive today had it not been for that special blood, and those patients are now 20 or 25 years old and starting their own families.”

Blood donations are tested to check for CMV antibodies.

KSBY’s Be A Hero Blood Drive takes place from 1-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Appointments are available at the KSBY studios in San Luis Obispo and at the Vitalant Donation Center in Santa Maria.

Click here to register.