Jim Carlson is a Lifesaver

Saving lives is what the is all about.

It is the core mission of its membersand the desire to help ones fellow man is what attracts most members to the volunteer fire service. Firefighter James Carlson is no exception.

A 34 year member of Engine Company No. 3, Jim has answeredthe call to duty time and again. But his service to the community does not end in the firehouse. Jim hasalso been a blood donor since his days in the military. He is a member of the “Gallon Club” at least eight times over.

Several years ago Jim was asked to try Apheresis, a process in which a donors blood is drawn from one arm, spun out using centrifugal force and valuable platelets are removed. The unused portion of the blood is then returned to the other arm.

The procedure is more involved than a normal 20 minute blood donation. In fact on average it takes approximately 90 minutes. The extended donation time oftenmakes it less desirable to the average donor. But Jim Carlson is no average donor. He has given plateletsevery two weeks for nearly eight years. To date, Jim has made over 200 Platelet donations.

On a Tuesday in March of 2012 Jim completed an Apheresis donation. The next day he received acall from the New York Blood Service (NYBS) advising him that their testing indicated that his whiteblood cells were a good match for a very sick 12-year-old boy.

This child was in dire need of whiteblood cells. These cells are only viable for 24 hours once a donation has been made so time was of theessence. They asked Jim if he would consider coming into Manhattan for an emergency donation ofhis white blood cells.

Without hesitation, Jim took a half day of vacation from his work as a bus driver with the Mineola School District on the following day. NYBS sent a car to pick up Jim and rushed himinto Manhattan to make the donation. The following morning the young boy was given the lifesaving transfusion.

A single platelet donation can provide enough platelets for a full therapeutic dose for a patient inneed. In fact, some platelet donations yield enough platelets for two or three therapeutic doses.

By contrast, it takes four to six whole blood donations to produce a single therapeutic dose. Many patients who need platelets are undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplant and have a weakened immune system.

A platelet dose from a single donor reduces the patient’s exposure to multiple donors.For more information on becoming a platelet donor go to the New York Blood Center webpage at www.nybloodcenter.org.