Blood Donor's 700-Donation Milestone Celebrated At Inova Blood Donor Services

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Ric Martin had already been involved with Inova Blood Donations for years before he was first asked for blood platelet donations in 1982. Today, he is still donating like clockwork as often as safety guidelines allow.

On Wednesday, Martin was at Inova Blood Donor Services' Dulles location for a routine platelet donation using the Trima system, which collects and separates blood into component parts. But this time, Inova Blood Donor Services surprised Martin with a plaque and cake to honor his 700th blood platelet donation, which the organization believes is the record among active donors.

Martin, who was a donor recruiter for Inova Blood Donor Services over a decade, is familiar with how donations can help save lives. He compared making a blood donation to taking a "pinch, a mosquito bite or a bee sting" to save someone.

"A fireman goes down, he gets burned, or a police officer gets shot, somebody gets hurt, and they need platelets," Martin explained. "A fireman can take at least 20 units of platelets just to stabilize as far as burns are concerned. Me, right now, I'm doing two units. Ten of me just to stabilize this person. There's a lot of need for us."

Inova Blood Donation Services recommends whole blood donations to be eight weeks apart, while double red blood cell donations should be 16 weeks apart. Platelet donations like Martin routinely provides are recommended two weeks apart.

While Martin typically makes platelet donations every two weeks, he will help out more frequently in emergency cases. He pointed to FDA guidance exceptions allowing blood platelet donations within a few days on an emergency basis.

"It takes about two and a half to three days for the body to regenerate that which I have lost in this donation," said Martin. "So if in an emergency, if a doctor says it, they need it, they need me, two, three days, I'm there."

The need for blood donations is ongoing at Inova Blood Donor Services, so regular donors like Martin are critical to helping patients. Nicholas Lilly, senior director of Inova Blood Donor Services, says hundreds or thousands of patients need blood donations every day. Lilly told Patch those could range from emergency patients like victims of attempted murder to patients with ongoing cancer treatments.

"There are many different patients, people that go through traumas, so in those emergency situations, platelets are utilized for clotting factors," said Lilly.

Blood donors can be assured that safety is a priority in the federally-regulated blood donation centers, Lilly told Patch.

"Every blood donation center follows certain standards across the board," said Lilly. "Everything is single use, so your needle is just going to be the needle for your procedure, that's it. We have highly trained medical professionals that are able to take care of you throughout your procedure."

Martin plans to continue donating as long as he is alive, or as long as Inova Blood Donor Services allows him to. He still maintains a sense of humor even during the hour-plus donation process. While he doesn't know the identities of the patients his donations help, he says "you can only pray" for good outcomes.

"You're like a relief pitcher. You don't know what your record is, but you're going to keep on pitching anyway," said Martin. "You just have to have confidence that it's going to help."

Blood donors can learn more about the blood donation process and eligibility at www.inovablood.org.