There is no chemical substitute for blood. It is a living tissue that can only be produced by the human body.
An average man of 180 pounds has about 10 to 11.5 pints of blood in his body, the average woman, a little less. If you live at high altitudes, you have more blood, as much as 4.7 pints more. A greater volume is needed as the air at higher altitudes holds less oxygen. A new-born baby weighing eight pounds only has about eight ounces of blood.
It takes four to six weeks for your body to replace a pint of blood, but when life is in the balance and you need blood, you need it immediately. Four weeks will be four weeks too late.
Until the mid 1970s, most of the hospitals in Cooke, Fannin, and Grayson Counties relied on Dallas for blood, but as the population grew, it became clear to doctors and hospitals that Texoma needed a local source for blood. Led by Dr. John Steele and the Texoma Regional Health Council, a sixteen member board of directors drawn from diverse elements of the region’s communities opened the first blood center at the Grayson County Airport on April 1, 1975. Dr. Emmett Essin, one of the first directors on the Blood Center’s board, said, “Of all the accomplishments that I have made in my life, the Blood Center is my proudest.”
Today the Texoma Regional Blood Center collects 12,000 pints of blood annually at its facility on Texoma Parkway, through its mobile Bloodmobile, and through its ongoing blood drives at schools, businesses and community events. “We go anywhere there might be a gathering of people,” wrote Director of Donor Resources Deedee Morehead.
The need for blood is never ending, as is the work of the Blood Center. Find out when the Bloodmobile will be at a location near you. Your donation can mean life for someone. It’s that simple.
To learn more about donating blood:
Texoma Regional Blood Center
3911 Texoma Parkway
Sherman TX 75090
(903) 893-4314
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm
Saturday 9am-1pm
Carol Baker
Executive Director
cbaker@texomablood.org
Stacy Means
Technical Director
smeans@texomablood.org
Deedee Morehead
Director of Donor Resources
dmorehead@texomablood.org
James Thompson
Information Services
jthompson@texomablood.org