Blood Drive

Staff Senate partners with Arkansas Blood Institute because it is a non-profit blood center whose volunteer donors provide every drop of blood needed by patients in more than 30 Arkansas hospitals. These include CHI St. Vincent hospitals, Mercy Hospitals, Sparks Health Care, Arkansas Heart Hospital, Jefferson Regional Medical Center and Conway Regional Hospital. Blood is delivered from the Fort Smith and Little Rock donor centers to hospitals in their areas., so that blood is from donors at local blood drives and other donors in the region.

Upcoming Drive:

back on tour blood drive photo

Schedule Your Appointment

Please schedule your appointment through the Blood Institute website.

Issues and Answers

Answers to common issues:

  • Donors cannot be on antibiotics, blood thinners or had hepatitis.
  • If a donor has an elevated heart rate (We will give you a few minutes and a bottle of water to see if it lessens).
  • Promote and educate acceptable iron levels (#1 reason people cannot donate blood). Tea consumption can lower your iron levels which could prevent donation.
  • It is okay to donate blood with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes even while taking meds
  • It is okay to donate blood after receiving the flu vaccine
  • It is okay to donate blood taking most anti-depressants, ADHD medications
  • Cancer survivors can donate if they have been cancer free for a minimum of 1 year
  • Tattoos are ok if they were done at a licensed facility in Arkansas and a few other select states. If a potential donor received a tattoo outside of approved states, it must be a year old to be eligible to donate. No self-made tattoos allowed

Additional information can be found Arkansas Blood Institute’s website.

Nutrition

Here are some tips about your nutrition related to blood donation:

  • (Before donating start eating beef, lamb, liver, pork, chicken, fish and shell fish, dried fruit, green, leafy vegetables, beans, peas, nuts &, whole/multi-grains…)
  • Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Consume several glasses/bottles of water to open up veins and promote good blood flow during the donation.
  • Avoid drinking tea a few days before the blood drive (tannic acid can interfere with iron absorption)