Why Give Blood?

When you give blood, you save lives and improve the health of your community. But it’s not just about what you give, where you give also makes a difference. Miller-Keystone Blood Center serves 35 local hospitals in our region. That means your blood can save the lives of family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers and others in the area that may need your help. On an annual basis, Miller-Keystone Blood Center needs over 100,000 units of blood to help save patients in our local hospitals – that’s 350 donors every day.

Here are some examples of blood use and conditions requiring blood transfusion:

Premature infants
At least 1-4 units of Red Cells

Accident victims
5-100 units of Red Cells

Burn victims
At least 20 units of Platelets

Cancer patients
At least 3-10 units of Red Cells and 10-30 units

of Platelets

Sickle Cell patients
At least 10-20 units of Red Cells

Heart surgery patients
At least 3-8 units of Red Cells, 1-10 units of Platelets and 2-5 units of Plasma

Bone marrow transplant patients
At least 15-20 units of Red Cells and 100-120 units of platelets

Organ transplant patients
At least 10-30 units of Red Cells,10-30 units of Platelets, and 20 bags of Cryoprecipitate