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Al Whitney, a retired 71-year-old factory worker from Ohio, is a man on a mission. He spent three days at DHMC last week during the 27th stop on his “Platelets Across America” journey, an effort designed to raise awareness about the importance of donating blood and blood platelets. Al Whitney "In 1965, I donated my first pint of
blood," Whitney says. "Afterward, that didn’t seem like much, so I
decided that I could do more, and I started organizing blood
drives."
Whitney describes his first drive as a big success. Over time, his collection drives became more frequent and soon Whitney was hosting them every Saturday, as well as every eight weeks on Monday nights. It was in the early 1970 that Whitney says he first learned of the need for platelets―the clotting agents in blood that help control bleeding. In hospitals, they are most often needed by cancer patients and burn victims and are also used in various surgical procedures. Since platelets can be donated much more frequently than blood―as often as every seven days, as opposed to every 56 days for regular blood donation―Whitney saw the way he could “do more” and began donating platelets regularly, logging some 600 donations to date. After retiring in 2007, Whitney decided he could do even more, and began the planning for his quest to donate platelets in all 50 states, and his “Platelets Across America” journey was begun. Because he funds all of the trips himself, Whitney has to do a lot of advanced planning to take advantage of the cheapest airfares he can find, and combines travel wherever possible. He says his next stop is Minnesota. Whitney is a true ambassador for the cause. After exchanging greetings with someone he has just met, Whitney’s next question is invariably, "Are you a blood donor?" “ It is all about raising awareness,” Whitney says, which he says is why he never passes up an opportunity to ask. “It’s a little thing that I can do to hopefully make a difference. Only about five percent of the people who are able to give blood actually do, and if everyone who could donate did, even occasionally, we would never have all the shortages that we do.” DHMC’s Blood Donor Program needs to collect an average of 35 pints of red blood cells every day to meet the needs of patients at DHMC, and also faces a heavy demand for blood platelets. The program relies heavily on volunteer blood donors to continue to fulfill its lifesaving mission. The DHMC Blood Donor Program is located on Level Two of the Doctor's Office Building at DHMC. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (603) 653-3775, or toll-free (866) 40-DONOR. You can also e-mail dhmc.blood.program@hitchcock.org. T he DHMC Blood Donor Program Hours are Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday 7:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Thursday 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and Friday 7:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. For more information contact Jason Aldous at (603) 653-1913.
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