American Red Cross Blood Services
Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Region

The Mission of the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.

Patients in this region need your help!! The Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Blood Services Region is one of 35 blood services regions operated in the United States and Puerto Rico by the American Red Cross. For over 54 years, Red Cross has provided blood and blood products to local community hospitals in Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We supply blood nearly 70% of Alabama’s hospitals and many along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in the Florida Panhandle.

Red Cross is the ONLY national blood banking system in the United States. We meet the needs of local patients each day, but is challenging. Last year because not enough donate blood, Red Cross had to import over 14,000 units of blood from other Americans outside of our region. We often must move blood around the region to keep blood available for those that need it. Our first priority is to provide a safe, adequate and available blood supply, but we can ONLY accomplish that goal if more give blood. We need more blood donors.

Your American Red Cross has built a “tradition of trust” with the people of Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. We store blood in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and in Mobile. On any given day, Red Cross is conducting as many as 30 blood drives in Florida, Mississippi and in Alabama.

The American Red Cross Blood Services mission is to fulfill the needs of the American people for the safest, most reliable, most cost-effective blood, plasma and platelet services through voluntary donations.

Our work is made possible by volunteers, volunteer blood donors and caring people like you, who organize and support blood drives. The blood supply must be constantly replenished; lives depend upon it. Blood is a perishable product that has a short 42-day shelf life. Consequently, your blood donation every 56 days is vitally important to maintaining an adequate blood supply for our area.

Blood donors are needed in our region each week to maintain an adequate blood supply. You can give blood at one of our mobile blood drives at businesses and organizations in your community. Or you can schedule a blood donation at a local donor center.  Simply call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543) to find out the most convenient place and time.

The Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Blood Services Region provides blood to hospitals in Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. These hospitals rely on the Red Cross around the clock for blood products, as well as for expert technical and medical support.

The Red Cross is more than a “blood bank.” Our title is Red Cross “Blood Services.” The Alabama and Central Gulf Coast Region provide blood and blood products and medical support to your local hospitals around the clock. Red Cross is the ONLY blood “services” that operates a  2 full time “Reference Labs” in Alabama. We have one in Birmingham and another in Mobile. These labs provide expert technical and medical support whenever medical personnel need it to help patients. We have a full time medical director (doctor) who works with the hospitals, patients and the Red Cross Reference Labs.

Lifesaving blood donations are tested and processed at the Red Cross National Testing Laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia. Hospitals and their patients benefit from an array of transfusion support services including self-donation, interoperative autologous transfusion, the Rare Donor Registry, stem cell and apheresis services.

The American Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization governed nationally by a 50-member, volunteer Board of Governors. We are NOT part of the Federal Government.

How You Can Save a Life

• Imagine just lying or sitting comfortably at one of our blood centers or mobile drives for about 15 minutes giving blood knowing you are helping someone in need. You can feel good about yourself and your act true selflessness.

• Your selfless donation of time and blood can touch 2 people's lives every time you give. Then we give you  a snack and some soft drinks.

• Hospital patients count on you and Red Cross everyday to live.

• PLEASE consider donating regularly. Only 4% of people living in this region give blood, while nearly 70% are eligible. Each day patients need 700-800 units of blood. Most donors ONLY give one time a year. Consider giving 3 times a year.

• Premature babies and their moms, leukemia, sickle cell anemia and cancer patients need your help. Burn victims and trauma patients lives can hang in the balance if there is no blood available. In the summer and winter vacation seasons blood is in extremely short supply.

• In this region, where you and I live, you can make your donation at one of our convenient donor centers or at blood drives sponsored by businesses and organizations in your community. Please don’t wait for an emergency to give blood. It may be too late.

• Become a platelet donor. Apheresis is a special way to give platelets needed by cancer patients.

• Understand your unique gift. Minorities are desperately needed to join the ranks of generous blood donors, increasing the survival of patients whose only hope may be a transfusion.

• Volunteer. Lending your talents and time also saves lives.

• Learn CPR, first aid, and how to keep your family safe. Visit www.redcross.org to locate the chapter in your community to learn more about these and other Red Cross safety courses.

Learn more about the American Red Cross by visiting the national organization’s home on the web at
www.redcross.org.

• Learn about other vital American Red Cross services: Disaster relief, Health and Safety Courses, AIDS Education, Social Services for the Armed Forces, Holocaust Tracing, and International Services.
• Find out about Red Cross activities around the globe.
• Find your local American Red Cross chapter.
• Tour the American Red Cross Virtual Museum.