While Feb. 14 is Cupid's favorite day - filled with cards, candy, flowers, and love - it is also National Donor Day. This day focuses on all types of donations, from eye, organ and tissue to blood, platelets and bone marrow.

At Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, donating is a priority all year long and not just on National Donor Day.

NMCP staff encourages everyone to donate and register as donors. Although millions of people in the United States have signed up to be donors, a disparity still remains between the number of people who need donations and what is actually available.

Programs are available at NMCP that allow people to donate platelets and blood and to sign up for the bone marrow and organ donor registries.

"Platelets have a shelf life of only five days; therefore we always need platelets," said Judith Barnes, an apheresis clinical nurse specialist. "When there are cardiac cases in the operating room, we have to have at least two to four platelet products set aside. Many of our patients who undergo cancer treatment and chemotherapy have extremely low platelet counts, and of course, trauma victims need platelets desperately to help them resolve these issues with their injuries. We are always in need."

When it comes to donating blood, although it is relatively popular, a shortage remains. According to the American Red Cross, an estimated 38 percent of the U.S. population is eligible to donate and less than 10 percent actually do each year.

"Whole blood is something that can stay on a shelf for 42 days, however, at this time of the year in particular, people don't seem to think about taking time to come and donate," Barnes said. "January in particular and February is not a good time for donations, so we are constantly recruiting, trying to get people interested in donating platelets and whole blood."

Similar to platelets and blood donors, there is a shortage of donors signed up for the bone marrow and organ donor registries.

When it comes to bone marrow, the National Marrow Donor Program reports that each year, more than 12,000 people are diagnosed with diseases that require an infusion of stem cells, yet more than 70 percent are unable to find an appropriate match within their own family and will require an unrelated donor.

"The military has its own segment with the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program, and they utilize names from a database," Barnes said. "To sign up, a cheek swab is done and sent in with your information and you are put into a registry. If you match someone who is in need of tissue or transplant, you will be called for additional testing. I can't emphasize enough that in this day and age where we have all ethnicities, we need to have a broad spectrum of donors for the registry, so we try to get everybody to sign up."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports the need for organ transplants is very real. Each day, an average of 79 people receive organ transplants. However, an average of 22 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

NMCP partners with LifeNet Health, a leading provider of organ donations and tissue banking services, to allow patients to sign-up and donate organs.
Registering as an organ donor can also be done at your local DMV by selecting "Yes" to organ donation when you apply for a driver's license.

With so many services to assist people with donating and joining a donor registry, this Valentine's Day, NMCP challenges staff and beneficiaries to show someone they are special by signing up to be an organ donor or donating blood or platelets.

For more information or to make an appointment, contact NMCP's Apheresis Center at (757) 953-1717.

For more news from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, visit www.navy.mil/.