Blood Drives at King's Daughters
An adequate blood supply is critical to meeting the needs of our patients. To help meet the community need, King's Daughters partners with the American Red Cross to sponsor six major blood drives each year, approximately every 56 days. Generally, these blood drives result in 50 to 70 pints in donations each time.
Additionally, The American Red Cross holds a smaller donor center on the third Monday of each month at King's Daughters Office Park, 835 Central Ave., Ashland. This event runs from noon to 6 p.m.
For more information about the blood drives, or the donor center, call the Red Cross at 1-800-733-2767.
Donor success
We want to make sure that every donor’s experience is as safe and successful as possible. Here are some tips to help make your experience better. The week before donating:
- Get plenty of rest and avoid excessive exercise
- Add more iron to your diet
- Add more vitamin C to help your body absorb the iron
- Avoid coffee, tea, and milk which contain substances that interfere with iron absorption
- The iron from animal foods is better absorbed than that from plants
The morning before donating:
- Get plenty of rest
- Eat breakfast
- Drink plenty of fluids several hours before you donate
- Relax before you donate
After donating:
- Drink juice or something with sugar to raise your blood sugar level
- Drink plenty of fluids for the next 24 hours
- Eat a hearty meal including iron-rich foods
- Avoid strenuous activity for the rest of the day
Keep in mind that because you were deferred once does not mean you will be deferred again. Your successful blood donation has the potential to save three lives!