Blood donations from Amador County donors are estimated to have saved 300 lives over the past year, according to Veterans Blood Drive Chair Robert Saracino. Six Veterans Blood Drives in 2007 collected 396 units of blood. Stephanie Kresse of Blood Source, the firm that performs the blood collection, says the Amador County Veteran’s blood drive is “phenomenal” in the way it has grown. Blood collected by Blood Source is used at Sutter Amador Hospital, Mark TwainHospital and other hospitals in the region. Blood collected at the Veterans Blood Drives also benefits veterans who need blood and don’t have insurance coverage.

The next Veteran’s Blood Drive will be held Feb.4 at the American Legion Hall in Sutter Hill. Along with the usual whole blood collection process, Blood Source will also collect “Double Red Blood Cells.” According to Kresse, Double Red Blood Cell Collection collects 2 units of red blood cells from one donor I one sitting. At this time, only men are being asked to donate with the new process and it takes a little longer.  According to the American Red Cross, only a fraction of those who can give blood do. Yet sooner or later, virtually all of us will face a time in which we will need blood. For more information about the Amador County Veterans Blood Drive, call Robert Saracino, 223-4389.