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Give life this holiday, donate platelets For every person donating platelets between Dec. 1 - 22, American Red Cross will give a teddy bear to a child at MUSC Children’s Hospital on Christmas Eve.   During your donation you can also have your blood drawn for a possible Bone Marrow match and join the National Registry.   Schedule a platelet donation appointment by calling 852-2910.   Early morning, evening and weekend appointments are available at the American Red Cross donation site at 1616 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.   Human Resources Policy states: “Employees will be paid leave for time out of the service area required for blood donation not to exceed four hours. Departments are encouraged to accommodate employees’ requests for time for blood donation, but a request can be denied if the absence would create an extraordinary burden on the work unit.” Did You Know? There is a frequent shortage of platelets that result from their high demand and short life span. Platelets must go from donor to patient with-in five days. Platelets can not be stored.   Platelet transfusions are needed by cancer, leukemia and bone marrow transplant patients to prevent the risk of life threatening internal bleeding.   Donating platelets is simple. A small amount of blood is drawn from your arm and platelets are collected from that blood using a blood cell separating process known as Apheresis.    The process does not significantly decrease your amount of platelets, and your platelets are replenished within 24 hours. In fact, you can donate whole blood or platelets again after just 3 days.    During the donation donors can watch television, videos or listen to headphones.