King's Daughters hosts blood drive July 15

King’s Daughters will host a blood drive for the American Red Cross from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, in the medical center’s Health Education Center (lower level of the Lexington Avenue parking garage) in Ashland.

Appointments to donate blood are required by calling 1-800-733-2767.

Did you know? (Statistics from the American Red Cross):

• Just one pint of blood can save three lives
• Every two seconds someone needs a blood transfusion
• 5 million patients need blood every year

A few tips for a successful donation:

• Maintain a healthy iron level in your diet by eating iron rich foods, such as red meat, fish, poultry, beans, spinach, iron-fortified cereals and raisins.
• Get a good night's sleep.
• Drink an extra 16 ounces of water or nonalcoholic fluids before the donation.
• Eat a healthy meal before your donation. Avoid fatty foods, such as hamburgers, fries or ice cream before donating. (Fatty foods can affect the tests we do on your blood. If there is too much fat in your blood, your donation cannot be tested for infectious diseases and the blood will not be used for transfusion).
• If you are a platelet donor, remember that your system must be free of aspirin for two days prior to donation.

More tips and facts can be found online at redcrossblood.org.