Davenport, Iowa, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spring weather and warming temps signal the beginning of “trauma season,” a time of year when emergency room doctors and emergency medical services (EMS) providers expect an increase in trauma and injuries that follows a seasonal pattern. Warm weather correlates to an increase in outdoor activities such as mountain biking, use of all-terrain vehicles, rock climbing, and more. This comes with a corresponding increase in patients who require immediate medical attention due to accidents, injuries, and other emergencies.

Many of these patients suffer from severe bleeding and rely on blood transfusions to survive. ImpactLife is now looking to increase appointment schedules to meet this demand and save lives. To find an ImpactLife Donor Center location or mobile blood drive, call (800) 747-5401, schedule online at www.bloodcenter.org or via the ImpactLife mobile app (www.bloodcenter.org/app).

Dr. Doug Soltys, a trauma surgeon with SSM Health Saint Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, says he expects to see more patients injured in outdoor activities this time of year. “And actually we see more in the first few months as opposed to the end of summer. I think people are just excited to be back outside and maybe act a little bit more crazily than they should,” says Dr. Soltys, adding that blood transfusions are essential for helping save lives of injured patients in the ER.

“Usually with traumatic accidents, we’re concerned about bleeding. If people come in and they’ve lost a lot of blood, we give one liter of fluid and then immediately start going in to blood products,” says Dr. Soltys. “We’ve learned we get better outcomes and patients do better if they immediately receive blood products upon reaching the trauma bay.” (Video interview: learn about trauma season and Massive Transfusion Protocol.)

Warm weather also coincides with more gunshot wounds and other interpersonal violence. According to the American College of Surgeons, hemorrhage is the most common cause of death within the first hour of arrival to a trauma center and more than 80% of deaths in the operating room and nearly 50% of deaths in the first 24 hours after injury are due to severe blood loss. (U.S. Blood Donation Statistics and Public Messaging Guide, America’s Blood Centers.)

Trauma season underscores the importance of maintaining a strong and stable blood supply at all times of year. To thank donors who give blood at this time of year, ImpactLife is providing all presenting donors with a voucher to redeem for their choice of an electronic gift card, bonus points to use in the ImpactLife Donor Rewards Store, or an equivalent value donation to Best Friends Animal Society through the blood center’s “Good Giving” program.

ImpactLife Donor Rewards (through May 31)

• Whole blood donation (Donor Centers and mobile blood drives)
  • $20 gift card, $20 donation OR 1,000 points
• Double red and plasma only donations 
  • $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points
• Platelet donations (donors who have given platelets 2+ times previously with ImpactLife)
  • $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points
• Platelet donations (donor’s first or second attempt to ever give platelets with ImpactLife)
  • $50 gift card, $50 donation OR 3,000 points

About ImpactLife

ImpactLife is a nonprofit community organization providing blood products and services to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical service providers in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, as well as researchers and resource sharing partners across the country. ImpactLife operates 23 Donor Centers and holds approximately 5000 mobile blood drives annually to provide blood components needed for patient transfusions at hospitals throughout our region and beyond.

For more information on blood inventories and donor promotions, see www.bloodcenter.org and find us @impactlifeblood on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

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