Portland Donor Center - Portland, Oregon
Posted by: 
howarthe
N 45° 32.757 W 122° 40.089
10T E 525905 N 5043654
The Portland Donor Center is located within the headquarters building for the Pacific Northwest Blood Services Region of the American Red Cross.
Waymark Code: WM8PPV
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 04/28/2010
Views: 5
The Pacific Northwest Region maintains at least nine donor centers throughout Oregon and Washington. In addition, they organize several "mobile" blood drives all over the region every day. From all of these locations, they collect approximately 1,000 units per day, out pacing the demand in this region and making it possible to export units to regions struggling to collect sufficient units.
Who Needs Blood?
Blood is a surprisingly important component of modern health care.
- Trauma patients get the most press. The nature of their injuries requires that they receive O negative type blood. They don't have time to type their blood before they transfuse it, and O negative type blood is the universal donor. In addition, these patients usually need SEVERAL units of blood, so the demand for O negative type blood is very high. If you have O negative type blood, please consider donating regularly (like six times per year).
- Cancer patients actually use the most blood. As chemotherapy attempts to destroy the cancer, it also destroys many of the blood cells. Cancer patients require REGULAR blood transfusions during the course of their treatment. Exposing such ill people to so many blood donors carries some risk. Many platelet donors donate regularly for specific patients to help mitigate this risk. This blog has been prepared by the mother of one grateful recipient: Alex's Battle
Giving blood is relatively safe and easy. Registration actually takes longer than the donation which can be completed in seven to ten minutes. The entire process should only take an hour, but it could help save three lives because whole blood donations are separated into platelets, plasma and red blood cells.
Who can donate blood?
Almost everyone can donate blood, generally, those who are at least 16 years old and weigh 110 pounds.
Who shouldn't donate blood?
- You shouldn't donate blood if you are sick, wait until you feel better.
- You shouldn't donate blood if it makes you pass out.
- You shouldn't donate if you are infected with a blood borne pathogen (HIV, hepatitis, etc.) even if you're not sick.
Incentive Program
The Pacific Northwest Region rather recently instituted an incentive program whereby donors earn point for the donations they donate. Points can be redeemed for Red Cross merchandise. See website for details.
Special Drives :
There are many special event drives held at this location.
- Girls Save Lives is a special drive coordinated with the Girls Scouts of the USA to help teach young girls about blood donation and community service.
- Thanksgiving Day drive is special drive which is a very important family tradition for many families in Portland.
- Courting New Donors is a special drive held during the Rose Festival. The Rose Festival Court visits the donor center bringing plenty of media attention in its wake.
Visit Instructions:Take a picture of blood donation center.
-If you have donated blood in bloodmobile or random blood donation event you can log these as visited on that waymarked blood donation center that have arranged that event. In this case give also additional coordinates of the location.
Optional extra tasks:
- Take photos of brochures that you got from the center.
- Telling a story with photo about your personal experience in blood donation is welcomed but not required.