Sibley, Iowa — Tomorrow (Wednesday) the Sioux Falls Community Bloodmobile will hold a blood drive at the Osceola Regional Health in Sibley from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Ken Versteeg, the Executive Director of Sioux Falls Community Blood Bank, tells us why this blood drive is important.
Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, there will be no blood drives for three days, according to Versteeg. He says that’s three days where there may be a lot of accidents or traumas, so they need to stock up on all blood types. There are two types the bank is especially low on, which are O+ and O-.
O- is very important to have on hand, Versteeg says, as it is considered to be a universal blood type. He tells us every time they take the helicopter out they take six units of O- with them because sometimes they don’t have the time to type test what blood type someone is before needing to give them a transfusion. He says only six percent of the population has blood type O-. Versteeg says if you don’t know your blood type you can still give blood because they will type test the blood to find out what type you are.
Versteeg says if you’ve never given blood it’s important to realize your blood donation can save more than one life.
The Sioux Falls Community Bloodmobile will be at the Osceola Regional Health in Sibley on Wednesday, May 24th, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. To make an appointment you can call (712) 754-5358. Walk-ins are welcome, but appointments will be given priority.
