March Is Red Cross Month

By Sue Harrison
iBerkshires Intern
03:01PM / Thursday, March 20, 2008

NORTH ADAMS — President Bush declared March as Red Cross Month, following a tradition set by President Roosevelt in 1943.

Red Cross Month is designed to raise public awareness about the nonprofit agency and ways to "help prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and other life-threatening emergencies," according to the American Red Cross Web site. The Red Cross provides food, comfort, and medical assistance to disaster victims and servicemen and -women, organizes blood drives and teaches health and safety programs to the public.

The American Red Cross was founded by Civil War nurse Clara Barton and like-minded friends in 1881, based on a movement begun in Switzerland. She headed the organization for 23 years; it was granted its first charter by Congress in 1900.

Over the next century, the American Red Cross has continued its mission as a link between military members and their families, and has aided victims of natural and manmade disasters here and overseas.

Most people probably know the agency through donating blood at one of the Red Cross' regular blood drives. The Red Cross established the nation's first blood bank program during World War II at the behest of the U.S. military, collecting 13.3 million pints of blood.

An estimated 15 million pints is collected each year, at least half at Red Cross blood donation events. In 2001, 14 million units of blood were given to 4.9 million patients.

According to Brian Hurlock, recruitment representative for Western Massachusetts' American Red Cross Biomedical Services, the Red Cross still "serves as a bridge between donors and recipients of life-saving blood."

There are some guidelines and restrictions to becoming a blood donor. There have been rules about people with recent tattoos or piercings donating blood, which according to Hurlock, are changing constantly, depending on what comes out in the medical field. This is good, he said, because "we increase the quality, safety, and purity of donated blood by being on top of protocol which, in turn, helps out both blood donors and recipients."

Some states advise blood donors to put off donating blood for a year after getting a piercing or tattoo for health precautions, but other states may allow donations to be given immediately after the procedure. In this case, the piercing or tattoo venue must be a licensed facility.

Possible donors must be in good health, be at least 17 years old (in some states, 16 years of age is the cutoff), and weigh at least 110 pounds. Reasons for restriction may be anemia, high or low blood pressure, Hepatitis, and pregnancy. More information can be found at www.americasblood.org.  

For those who are not able to donate blood, the public can still help by volunteering to promote blood drives, recruit donors, and becoming trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 

Anyone wishing to donate can find local blood drives by clicking on the Red Cross tab on the front page iBerkshires.com or here. To find out how to help the American Red Cross, there are plenty of opportunities listed at www.redcross.org. 

Other services provided by the American Red Cross include transportation to get people to and from medical appointments, shelter and casework for homeless individuals, comprehensive assistance for individuals and families directly affected by HIV and AIDS, an HIV/AIDS education program, elder care and programs that feed the hungry. 

While March has been declared as Red Cross Month for the last 65 years, the public can help by donating blood or volunteeringany time of the year. Assistance is always needed, and always welcome, said Hurlock.