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Ford Engineers Rebuild Blood Bank

14 January 1999

Ford Engineers Rebuild Blood Bank

    DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 13 -- Automotive safety isn't the only
public health concern among Ford Motor Company engineers, who lined
up here this morning to help re-stock the storm-battered Southeastern Michigan
blood bank.
    Some 200 Ford employees at Ford's Product Development Center are scheduled
to donate blood today and tomorrow to the American Red Cross Southeastern
Michigan Blood Services Region, which is still recovering from the early-
January blizzard in which certain blood supplies dropped to critical levels.
    "We're still in a recovery mode, with the level of our normal blood
donations down by about a third due to ongoing weather problems," said Mary
Anne Stella, chief operating officer of the Red Cross local chapter.
    Projected blood donations from the two-day Ford PDC drive will account for
approximately five percent the local Red Cross normal weekly collections of
3,600 units of blood.  Another 1,200 units are imported, mostly from the
Minneapolis-St. Paul area to meet the weekly distribution volume of 4,800
units to hospitals across Southeastern Michigan.  But daily local donations
hit an all-time low of 19 units on January 3, the day of the blizzard, noted
Stella, and supplies dwindled dangerously low last week under Jack Frost's
double-whammy.  Weather-related airport delays slowed the usual import flow
from Minnesota, while snow-clogged streets and driving difficulties kept local
donors away from the Red Cross centers.
    Local donations climbed back to 450 pints this past Monday, said the Red
Cross, but that's still some 30 percent below normal, as Michiganders braced
for another round of snowfall.
    This week's PDC drive is part of the continuing Red Cross support by Ford
employees, who donated 7,400 units of blood last year to patients served by
the Southeast Michigan chapter.
    Anyone can participate to donate blood by calling 800-GIVE-LIFE.