Published June 18th, 2014
City of Orinda Hosting Red Cross Blood Drive
By Laurie Snyder
Orindans will be seeing red yet again - but this time it will be while giving blood to the American Red Cross.
For those who have never experienced a blood drive, donors arrive, register, have their health histories taken, complete mini-physicals, and then have a little more than a pint of blood drawn. The blood is then labeled and stored in iced coolers.
Bar coding helps the organization track each donation as it courses from Orinda through the Red Cross processing system at laboratories and storage facilities nationwide. That process includes centrifugal spinning to separate the blood into red cells, platelets and plasma, typing of the blood, and testing for bacteria and a dozen diseases. Units deemed suitable for transfusion will then be labeled again and stored by the American Red Cross, which ships blood to hospitals every hour of every day.
Sponsored by the City of Orinda, the June 25 blood drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Founders' Auditorium at the Orinda Community Center. So roll up your sleeves and down a glass of orange juice. Walk-ins are welcome.

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