Platelet Donor Celebrates Red Cross Month by Donating 700th Unit

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OMAHA, Neb. (February 27, 2008) – Seventy-five-year-old, Russell Lambert has donated more blood products than anyone in the Midwest Region Blood Services of the American Red Cross. Lambert has donated two units of platelets every two weeks on a regular basis for the past 21 years and is scheduled to reach his 700th donation on March 5th, 2008.

Lambert first donated blood in the Army in 1954 while stationed in Germany. He said he initially donated because the Army gave people the day off when they donated and it sounded like a good deal to him. He didn’t start donating platelets until 1986 and says curiosity is what led him to apheresis, the process by which platelets are collected from donors.  He asked a nurse what they were doing in the other donation room, found it interesting and decided to start donating platelets.

He has continued to give platelets for 21 years because he knew people needed it and figured he might as well give if he could. “Now I don’t mind giving every two weeks, I get to pick on the nurses. It’s my routine.” Lambert said with a chuckle.

Apheresis donations are a bit different from whole blood donations. Whole blood donors can only donate every 56 days, but platelet donors can donate every two weeks. The process of collecting platelets is also different. Apheresis donors take their blood "out for a spin" through a centrifuge machine, which separates blood into its red cell, platelet and plasma components. The unused components are then immediately returned to the donor. The actual donation process takes about two hours compared to the one hour for donating whole blood.

A retired pressman, Lambert worked for more than 49 years at the Omaha World-Herald until he retired 11 years ago. Dedication, even throughout his retired years, has paid off for him. The Russell Lambert Achievement Award was created in 2003 when Lambert was the first to donate more than 500 apheresis donations to the Red Cross in the Midwest Region. Since then, ten others have donated more than 500 apheresis donations and been honored with the award in Lambert’s name.

Russell Lambert’s 700th Donation
Wednesday, March 5th
West Omaha Red Cross Donation Center
132nd and Dodge St.
6:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

ABOUT THE RED CROSS
The Omaha, Neb.-based Midwest Region supplies blood products and specialized laboratory services to more than 80 hospitals in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado and Kansas. In a lifesaving partnership with approximately 73,000 volunteer blood donors, 1,200 volunteer blood drive coordinators and 600 staff members, the Midwest Region organizes nearly 2,800 blood drives in an effort to collect more than 150,000 pints of blood each year for patients in need. The Midwest Region is one of four regions that make up the Mid-America Division of the American Red Cross Blood Services.
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