Medic Regional Blood Center is set to compete against Kentucky Blood Center from Nov. 13-17 in the annual Orange and Blue Competition.
The blood centers compete to see which can collect the most blood products in five days.
On Nov. 6, Medic began using its new donor health questionnaire. Based on the most recent FDA guidelines, the questionnaire include changes for travel-related deferrals, sexual contact deferrals, and hepatitis deferrals.
“November is an exciting time for Medic,” said Kristy Altman, Medic’s vice president of communications and public relations. “We’ve been working on the change to the [questionnaire] since January and those changes will open eligibility to additional donors while maintaining the safety of the blood products.”
Altman continued, “These changes come directly before our Orange and Blue competition and during a time when donations will wane due to the holidays.”
Medic Regional Blood Center is an independent nonprofit community blood center.
Medic is the primary blood product provider for 26 hospitals in 23 counties in East Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky.
Hospitals served by Medic include Cumberland Medical Center, Blount Memorial Hospital, Covenant Health System, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Tennova and the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Appointments for donations are preferred, but walk-in donors are welcome.
To schedule an appointment at the Crossville Donor Center at 96 Hayes St., call 865-524-3074, visit medicblood.org/donate or download the new Medic donor app to search for the closest blood drive.
Visit medicblood.org or contact Altman at Kaltman@medicblood.org or 865-805-2008 for more information about Medic.