What started as an occasional stop has become a regularly scheduled gift for Doug Brand of Seward.
On Dec. 30, Brand gave blood for the 200th time.
“I did one or two pints my senior year of high school and in college two or three times,” he said.
He couldn’t remember how he got started giving blood once he moved to Seward. He thought perhaps he went with Jack Aegerter, and that began the regular schedule.
“Once I started, it became a habit,” Brand said. “It’s so easy.”
Brand’s first donations were done in Fremont at the National Guard Armory. He said his dad gave off and on, as well.
In the beginning in Seward, donations were done at Seward Memorial Hospital. Brand remembered sitting in the hall to give and having Mrs. Thomas “boss us around.”
He went to either the Seward VFW Club or Cattle Bank over his lunch hour. It takes about 20 minutes to give a pint or unit of blood and then about 10 to recover, he said.
A donor can give blood every eight weeks, said Kristin Ihde, education account manager for the Nebraska Community Blood Bank. Brand said he gives in Seward every time he can, but occasionally he’s had to go to Lincoln to stay on schedule.
“At first, I saw the same crew every time,” Brand said. “Now it’s different every time.”
He said he sees some of the same donors every time he comes and enjoys the camaraderie.
Ihde said giving locally is important to the blood bank, which supplies local hospitals like Seward, in addition to Nebraska Medicine, Children’s Hospital in Omaha and more.
“We need about 1,000 units each week,” she said. “The supply is not constant, so it’s important to have donors.”
NCBB is in Seward about every eight weeks. The donation stations are regularly set up at Cattle Bank and Faith Lutheran Church. Blood drives are also done at Seward High twice a year, Concordia University two to three times a year, at Milford High and Southeast Community College in Milford and Centennial High in Utica.
Donors can also give platelets at the donor centers in Lincoln. That is a longer process of one to two hours, Ihde said. Platelets can be given up to 24 times a year.
Plasma can also be donated.
A double red donation is when a donor gives two units of blood but gets their plasma and platelets back. It takes about 20-25 minutes longer than a regular donation, Ihde said.
“I feel it’s a pretty easy process,” she said.
The regular blood donation can’t be longer than 15 minutes, she said.
“It’s a quick way to help save lives,” Ihde said.
For those keeping track, 200 pints equals 30 gallons.
Brand, whose blood type is A negative, said giving blood is a no-brainer for him.
“If you can help, it doesn’t cost a dime. Why not?” he said. “Other people do so much. This is something I can do.”
