SOUTHWICK – Baystate Health is just one day away from hosting their Fourth Annual Southwick Fire vs. Police Blood Drive, which will take place outside the headquarters of the Southwick Fire and Police Department’s tomorrow.
On Tuesday, from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m., members of both departments, friends, family, and the community will have the opportunity to donate blood to their local hospitals. People will have the choice to donate blood for fire or police.
For three consecutive years, the fire department has raised the trophy and defeated police in the blood drive competition.
The local hospitals to benefit include Baystate Noble, Baystate Wing, Baystate Franklin, Baystate Mary Lane, Baystate Children’s Hospital, Baystate Medical Center, The D’amour Cancer Center, and the Level 1 Trauma Center.
The Baystate Health mobile blood drive will be at the headquarters of the Southwick Fire and Police Departments tomorrow from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. (WNG File Photo)
Amy Benson, a recruiter for the Blood Donor Program at Baystate Health and organizes the blood drive, stressed the impact donating blood can have.
“It’s so important to support this cause because you never know who you might be helping, it could be a friend, a family member, that person you walked by this morning, or that accident you heard about last night,” said Benson. “It’s so gratifying to know that you could have made that difference.”
Last year, fire defeated police by having 12 donors while police had seven donors. In total, there were 24 individuals who attempted to donate and only five were deferred. But, most importantly, according to Benson, over 40 lives were saved due to the blood donations in Southwick.
If an individual wants to sign up to donate blood and support the fire department, contact them at 413-569-6363. For police, you can contact them at 413-569.5348. People can also call Baystate Medical Center at 413-794-4600 to make an appointment or to discover more information.
Anyone that participates in the blood drive on September 11 will receive free admission to the Big E, which begins on September 14 and ends on September 30. In order to give blood at the drive, people must be at least 17-years-old, have photo identification, and weigh 110 pounds or more. Individuals must be in good health, no colds, sore throats, or allergy symptoms. Other requirements are: Know where you have traveled in the past three years, No tattoo’s in the past 12 months, No body piercings in the past 12 months, No dental cleaning, fillings, in past 24 hours, All donors are also highly encouraged to have plenty to eat and drink prior to donating blood.
