For Immediate Release	Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan
August 21, 2007	508-961-5270
	brennanj@southcoast.org
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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Blood Bank will be hosting an End-of-Summer Blood Drive on Monday, August 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. featuring free T-shirts and a cookout.

The Southcoast Health Van will be located in front of St. Luke's Hospital, 101 Page Street in New Bedford with a tent offering donors a continental breakfast, an afternoon cookout and refreshments. Donors will also receive a free T-shirt and giveaways. The event will take place rain or shine. It is open to the public, no registration necessary.

When you donate at a Southcoast Blood Drive you are helping your South Coast neighbors.

The Southcoast Blood Bank collects approximately 4,000 units of blood every year through blood drives, and another 3,000 unit in our Blood Donor location at St. Luke's Hospital Blood Donor facility. This accounts for approximately 90 percent of the blood used at St. Luke's hospital alone.

Typically, St. Luke's uses nearly 600 pints of blood a month. In addition to emergency cases, blood is needed for people undergoing surgery, and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer, or other diseases, such as sickle cell anemia and hemophilia. When you donate at a Southcoast Blood Drive you are helping your South Coast neighbors by keeping our local blood supply strong.

What to expect when you donate.

When prospective donors come to the Blood Bank, staff discuss their medical history and make sure they are able to donate. Potential donors also fill out a confidential questionnaire on their medical backgrounds. These measures safeguard the health of the donor as well as the health of the person receiving blood. The whole process of the interview and the actual donating usually takes 20 to 25 minutes. The donor's body replaces the fluid lost from donation in 24 hours and the red blood cells in about eight weeks.

Who's eligible to donate?

Blood donors should be in good health (no colds or flu), at least 18 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, have not taken drugs or alcohol recently, are over 70 and have your physician's permission. Donors who have traveled in Africa or have a tattoo should call first. Donors who have spent more than three months cumulative in the United Kingdom since 1980 also should call first. For more information on how to be a donor, call 508-961-5320.

Where to donate

• The Southcoast Blood Bank: The Southcoast Blood Bank is located at St. Luke's Hospital, 101 Page Street, New Bedford, off the main lobby. Walk-ins are welcome Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 to 1:30 p.m. For more information or to make an appointment call 508-961-5320 (www.southcoast.org/bloodbank/).

• Community Blood Drives: Southcoast hosts blood drives throughout the region on the Southcoast Health Van and at local businesses. The schedule can be found online at www.southcoast.org/van/ or by calling 508-679-7131.

The Southcoast Blood Bank is also looking for local businesses to host blood drives. Call Sandra Pires, Blood Donor Coordinator at 508-961-5319 for more information or to schedule a drive.

About Southcoast

Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of advanced health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

Southcoast has more than 40 ancillary facilities, including the Southcoast Health Van, home health care, hospice and infusion services, numerous outpatient medical services, an assisted living facility and a wellness center. For more information visit www.southcoast.org.

Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and primary angioplasty beginning in Spring 2002.

Media Contact

Joyce Faria Brennan
Public Information Officer
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org