How the Red Cross helps save lives by collecting blood donations
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the Chicago area, the American Red Cross collects about 1,000 units of blood per day. It sounds like a lot, but the need for blood donations is huge and constant.
Cynthia Torres has donated blood more times than she can count.
"I try to donate every chance I get," she said. "When my father was diagnosed with lymphoma, he had many blood transfusions, and so it's just my way of giving back."
She also knows there's also a greater need for people in the Latino community to donate.
"Latinos have a higher propensity of [type] O blood, and there is a big need for that, since it is a universal donor type of blood," Torres said. "If more Latinos got involved, we'd make a bigger difference in collecting blood for people in need."
Demond Ausley knows how great that need is. He's the Red Cross blood manager for the Chicago region.
"We can never have enough blood," he said. "Being here in the city of Chicago, it's a major city, and of course, across the country, you've seen the natural disasters. So when those type of events occur in those areas, they need support too. So, we oftentimes send units out there to support their needs as well."
The Red Cross maintains 40% of the nation's blood supply. Much of it is distributed from the Red Cross headquarters on the city's West Side.
That's in part due to people like Scott Goedert, a Red Cross volunteer who drives that blood to 28 hospitals in the Chicago area.
"On any given day, I usually drive about 40 miles," he said. "We're all over the place. It's a lot of blood moving around, and it's blood. There's no substitute for it.
About 90% of Red Cross workers are volunteers like Goedert.
"Without doing that as a volunteer, I'm not sure the Red Cross could operate the way it does," he said. "So, it makes me feel … it makes me feel good, makes me feel good."
The easiest way to sign up to donate blood is by going to the Red Cross website and finding a blood drive near you to make an appointment.
