February is American Heart Health Month!
Donate Blood & Get Your Health Screenings!

February 2013

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Anyone who makes a lifesaving blood or platelet donation in February at a Community Blood Services� donor center or mobile blood drive in New Jersey or New York in recognition of American Heart Health Month will get invaluable screenings to help track their heart health.

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the U.S. Heart Health Month is designed to raise awareness of the importance of diet, fitness and regular health screenings to a healthy heart, and the importance of donating blood to help patients with heart-related illnesses.

Donors can visit www.communitybloodservices.com or call toll free 866-228-1500 to make an appointment to donate. Whole blood donors also can walk-in but appointments are needed to donate platelets.

Donors get a variety of health screenings at the time of their donations, including blood pressure and non-fasting cholesterol and glucose screenings, said Karen Ferriday, director of community affairs. Monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels can help alert someone to a possible heart problem.

Donors can click here to find convenient locations and hours to donate throughout February in New Jersey and New York State. Or they can call 866-228-1500 to find out when a mobile blood drive will be in their area.

Karen Ferriday, director of community affairs at Community Blood Services, noted a heart surgery patient can need up to six units of blood and six units of platelets. �Our dedicated donors help us to ensure we always have blood on the shelves for heart patients and others who need it at our community hospitals,� she noted.

All blood types are currently needed, with an urgent need for Type O negative and AB negative blood types, to meet the needs of patients in the more than 18 hospitals Community Blood Services serves in New Jersey and New York. Donors must be 17-75 years old (16 years old with parental consent), healthy and weigh at least 110 pounds.