Dec 20, 2012 2 min read

This holiday season the best gift you can give someone won’t cost you a thing. Stop by the Guesman Room, located on the second floor at Southwest Regional Medical Center, between 1 and 7 p.m. Wednesday to donate blood. A single donation can save up to three lives.

Every two seconds, someone in this country needs blood. Blood products are needed by cancer patients, people with blood disorders, trauma victims, surgical patients and more.

Southwest Regional Medical Center alone uses approximately 600 units of blood a year. By donating you could be saving a friend, a neighbor, a family member, even yourself. The donation process only takes about 45 minutes.

The American Red Cross also will be doing Double Red Cell donations on Wednesday, Dec. 26. The Double Red Cell donation procedure lets you give more of the product that is needed by most patients. This process can take up to an hour.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call Pamela Pulkownik at 724-627-2412 or visit the appointment scheduling section of redcrossblood.org. The online appointment sponsor code is srmc.