Blood Platelets Needed in San Diego

Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) has a shortage of blood platelet donors due to large amounts of service members on overseas deployments. NMCSD is seeking volunteers for plateletpheresis, a procedure where platelets are taken from a healthy donor and transfused to seriously ill patients. The automated procedure collects about one tenth of the circulating platelets, an amount easily spared by the donor and regenerated by the body within 48 hours. The collection takes less than two hours. Blood platelets are small cells that help blood clotting. Although they do not cure diseases, they help people with serious illnesses such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, cancer and other diseases in which blood is affected. For more information about donating, contact the Armed Services Blood Program Office at (703) 681-8024.