Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
WAKEFIELD-MARENISCO student Darienne Korpi holds up her arm after giving blood Thursday during school. Jessica Nagorski is cataloging and electronically filing the blood for safe keeping and travel throughout the United States, wherever there is a need.
By IAN MINIELLY
Wakefield - The American Red Cross set up a blood donation clinic in the Wakefield gym on Thursday. According to the Red Cross, they come to this area every three to four weeks during the school year and are planning on coming back July 19 to the Ironwood area.
The Red Cross said they typically receive about 24 units or pints of blood when they set up in one of the area schools. They said they drew 60 pints at the Memorial Building in Ironwood on Wednesday.
The Red Cross office servicing this area is based in Stevens Point, Wis. They are a satellite office of the main Badger State Red Cross office located in Madison, Wis. This region also includes the Upper Peninsula. The Red Cross employees spent a day earlier this week at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., where they received 300 pints.
A Red Cross spokesman told the Daily Globe the blood goes all over the country. For those with A negative, B negative, O negative and A positive blood, there is an option to donate what are called, "power reds." The power reds are only red blood cells and according to the Red Cross, when receiving blood, a person is most likely going to receive the power reds first.
The Red Cross said donated blood is tested for HIV, chagas, human t-lymphotropic virus, syphilis, West Nile, hepatitis, zika and babesia, which is a tick borne disease that attacks red blood cells and is found in parts of the Northeast and upper Midwest, usually peaking for transmission during the warm months, according to the CDC.
