Hosting a Blood Drive
01 Dec 2021

Patient Story: Meet Nicole

For patients like Nicole whose illness is chronic, the potential for a holiday and winter-related blood donation slump can be scary. After all, they rely on blood year-round to maintain their health. 

Nicole has common variable immune deficiency (CVID) and will require monthly intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy for the rest of her life. IVIG is derived from plasma, which is the liquid portion of blood that contains hundreds of different proteins and critical substances, like clotting factors and electrolytes needed for our bodies to function normally. The ideal blood types for plasma donations are donors with blood types AB+ and AB-.  Learn more about plasma donation. 

Thanks to the generosity of volunteer blood and plasma donors, she can spend more time with her husband and daughter and has far more energy. “The IVIG allows me to be healthy and active,” Nicole said. “This therapy wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of plasma donors.” 

You have the ability to help patients like Nicole this winter, whether you have an upcoming blood drive or not: 

• If you have a blood drive coming up: Make scheduling appointments for your blood drive a priority starting today. If you strive to fill the Vitalant-provided schedule, your blood drive will operate more efficiently and you should have enough donors to hit your goal even with deferrals. Plus, speak to your Vitalant representative to ask about adding plasma or Power Red automated collections to your next blood drive. 
• If your blood drive is a little further away: Begin work now with your donor recruitment professional on developing a plan for blood drive success that includes talking to past donors and identifying new donors.
• If you don’t have your next blood drive scheduled: Contact your donor recruitment professional to book your next blood drive. 

As a blood drive coordinator, your work means the world to patients like Nicole, who rely on the generosity of blood donors to survive. Thank you for being a part of our lifesaving mission and providing Nicole, and thousands of other patients just like her, another joy-filled holiday season.