For more information, contact:
[WHITE OUT & ADD NAME HERE]
[WHITE OUT & ADD PHONE]
Students Asked to Become Real Life Heroes

BALTIMORE, September 20 1998 - Student and school groups across the United States are being asked to become heroes. How? By joining local Blood Banks, Oncology Centers and the National Platelet Association in observing National Platelet Donor Recruitment Week! The Awareness Campaign will take place between September 20-26, and this year's effort is aimed at teaching high school and college students about the basics of platelets and platelet donation. The date of the campaign was specifically chosen to target and accommodate students as they return to school for the fall.

What are Platelets? Why is it Important that I Know about Them?

Platelets are a special part of the blood that aid in clotting, and each year more than 8 Million units of platelets are collected and transfused. (Institute of Medicine Report: Blood Donors and The Supply of Blood and Blood Products. 1996.)

Platelets are used to treat people with cancer, leukemia, aplastic anemia, and other serious illnesses. Patients unable to produce healthy blood cells often rely on platelets donated by dedicated donors in order to survive. Forty percent of platelet recipients are under the age of 20. Like whole blood, marrow, tissue and organs, platelets are an important Gift of Life, and those who donate them are heroes, in the truest sense of the word.

Platelets are collected by a special procedure called apheresis (pronounced a-fur-ee-sis). Apheresis is a process by which the platelets are separated from the rest of the blood. While the platelets are being continuously "spun-off', the other components of the blood (red cells, white cells and plasma) are returned to the donor. A platelet donation by apheresis generally takes about two hours. When one considers the standard wait that is involved to go through the screening process for a regular donation, it is really not that much longer than donating whole blood. Platelet donors are always needed because donated platelets must be transfused within five days, before the platelets lose their ability to clot the patients blood. Platelets don't travel well, so it’s important to have a good local supply.

Take a test that won't affect your grades.

In hopes of raising basic awareness about platelet donation, this year's Platelet Donor Recruitment Week will feature a Platelet Quiz. Student newspapers are encouraged to print the quiz in their publications during the recruitment campaign. This short True/False quiz (with answers) includes questions like the following:

Platelets are the part of your blood that carry oxygen?
Apheresis is the method used to collect only one part of blood from a donor?
Donated platelets can be used years later?

Why target Students?

Students are a focus of this campaign because individuals can begin donating platelets when they are 18 years old. Students learn about the need for whole blood donation through student blood drives, but because platelets are typically always collected at a fixed site, students will often not be made aware of platelets or apheresis.

Learn more about Apheresis by visiting an Apheresis Center in your area.

Apheresis Centers want the public to know about platelet donation. Call an Apheresis Center in your area and they'll be glad to give you more detailed information. To receive more information, phone:[WHITE OUT & ADD PHONE NUMBER.]

About the National Platelet Association (NPA).

The NPA is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the size and diversity of the platelet donor pool. The general public can contact the NPA by sending a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope to: 2807 FIFTH AVENUE, BALTIMORE, MD 21234-3009. Persons with e-mail are encouraged to write to: ebunker@platelet.org.