VITALANT NEWS RELEASE

Summer finds Vitalant Blood Donation Drives with many urgent needs for donations. “During holiday times and summer, many are busy with holiday preparations or traveling on vacation,” Account Manager Heidi Chase said. “We see a significant decline in blood donations during this time.”

The Vitalant team has stepped up its presence during the season, so it can reach as many donors as possible. July 12 and Aug. 16 are two such opportunities where residents can donate at our local Smith’s Marketplace.

“If the weather is too hot for you come cool off in the mobile air-conditioned unit. You can even have a snack and a drink while you wait.” –Vitalant team.

Some policy changes have found that adults previously unable to donate are now welcome to climb aboard.

“Recently, the FDA released new guidance about tattoos. If your tattoo was done in a licensed shop, there is no waiting period to donate blood,” Chase said. “If your tattoo was done by an unlicensed individual or done in a foreign country, there is a 90-day wait to donate blood.”

Another change is blood donations can now be made by those who lived in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. Once considered an exclusion due to a variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob, also referred to as “Mad Cow” disease, has been lifted by the FDA. Those individuals are now able to donate blood.

Vitalant has many resources available online at http://www.Vitalant.org and a Vitalant app is available wherever you find your cell phone apps. They can assist with everything from appointments to using the points you accrue through donations to garner items from gift cards to apparel and more. If you donate now through the end of July, you are also eligible to win a new car. Plus, if you want to add an additional challenge to score more points, check out the Vitalant Elite tab available at no cost.

The donation process is incredibly safe and easy and could save a life. They remind you not to let a “split-second pinch,” keep you from making a difference for someone in need in the state or the nation.

The annual Battle of the Badges will take place in August. It’s just a fun way to have donors choose if the Los Alamos Fire Department or the Los Alamos Police Department gets to claim the annual title. Who will you pick?

If online registration is too difficult, just call or stop by to see if they can take a walk-in appointment that day.

Upcoming donation locations:

• 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 12 — Smith’s Marketplace; and
• 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Aug. 16 — Smith’s Marketplace.

Battle of the Badges scheduled details:

• 12–6 p.m., Aug. 21 — First Baptist Church, and
• 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Aug. 22 — First Baptist Church.