"THE HEART OF THE MATTER"
a special program of the National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA)

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Week: 592.3  

Guest: Dr. Richard Davey, Chief Medical Ofcr., American Red Cross 

Topic: Blood donation process 

Host/Producer: Steve Girard 

NEMA: Donating life....coming up... 

SPOT: The best emergency is one that doesn’t happen. The National Emergency Medicine Association. Visit us at www.nemahealth.org. 

NEMA: Quick quiz...you’re in and out in about an hour...you come out a little bit changed, and with a great deal of satisfaction? What is it? You might say...a massage! Well, I’d guess that.... But the answer this time is: donating blood...  

DAVEY: we need blood donors of all types. However, group ‘O’ and especially ‘O negative’ is always in very high demand. That’s because ‘O negative’ blood can be termed ‘universal donor blood’ and can be used in emergency situations,  

NEMA: Dr. Richard Davey is the Chief Medical Officer of the American Red Cross...  

DAVEY: We do require people to be volunteers, and to be healthy. And we’ll ask a series of questions to make sure that that is indeed the case. Blood donation is a safe procedure, we use sterile equipment...it’s used only once, and then discarded. So, there’s no risk for any infection or any other related problem from donating blood.  

NEMA: The toll free number for finding a donation center near you says it all: it’s 1-800-GIVE LIFE....donate soon. I’m Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.