Beat Bama Blood Drive kicks off tomorrow

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Did you know that every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood? There is always a constant need for regular donations.

Help WAFB fill the blood banks by participating in our Beat Bama Blood Drive.

“Blood is something that is a medicine for us. We use it every day,” said Dr. Mark Laperouse, Medical Director of Emergency Services at Our Lady of Lake.

The drive starts October 28th and ends November 3rd.

“To have events like this, it is great for our supply,” Dr. Laperouse explained. 

He says, on any given day, the blood center is hovering around just a week’s supply of blood.

”Every day is it an ebb and flow. It’s not like we stockpile for months and months,” added Laperouse.

Donating blood takes about an hour and has the potential to save up to three lives.

” We take your whole blood, and we can get multiple things from it,” explained Laperouse.

The hospital’s blood center collects, tests, and distributes more than 60% of the blood transfused in the entire Baton Rouge area.

”We can’t predict when traumas will happen. With all the construction on the interstate, there are wrecks and there are injuries. Sometimes, people just need blood,” Laperouse said.

Starting the 28th through November 3rd, OLOL will be accepting donations at various locations in the capital city. While Dr. Laperouse encourages you to go out and roll up your sleeves, he says don’t make this a onetime thing.

You can donate every eight weeks, that is six times a year.

”I tell people to put a reminder on their calendars. Go give blood. Even with the best intentions. we have busy lives and schedules,” explained Laperouse.

For more information on the Beat Bama Blood Drive click here.

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