Important Information To Save Lives
As many of you know, on Tuesday, August 10th, John Heidemann of the Coronado Resident's Association sent out an emailed plea to find a donor for his good friend, Boris H. Boris was in desperate need of a donor for A-negative blood in order to go ahead with an important operation. A-negative blood is a fairly rare type of blood; apparently, all of the hospitals' blood banks were completely depleted of this type. Through the amazing power of the internet, John's foresight to use it, and other groups who picked up the torch and passed the message on immediately, a blood donor was found within the hour. Actually, not just one was found; within 24 hours Boris had received over 25 potential donors willing to help out. To follow is the heart touching email received by one of the groups who got involved in spreading the word, and one of the potential donors they had found. The names have been removed only because each group and/or potential donor was as important as the next, but we wanted to share with it with you as just as it was shared with us:Dear _____. I appreciate very much your involvement. _________ is decent and caring person and I thank you both from the bottom of my heart. The response to our plight was so fast and overwhelming that within first one hour we had more then 10 potential donors. All together we had over 25 offers to donate. It is much more that I needed. People are just awesome . So with many thanks I wish you health and happiness . Saludos. Boris
We should all commend John Heidemann for his quick thinking and caring! Through his efforts, we realized there must be a need for A-negative blood in the blood banks, but when only days later, we received another call for O-Negative blood through an article in Newsroom Panama, we realized the need must be much greater than originally thought. Two times in one week can only mean the blood banks in Panama are very low; so a few of us (some belonging to more than one of our groups) looked into it and were extremely surprised to find out not just how low the blood banks are, but that Panama has one of the lowest voluntary blood donation rates in the Americas! Since being paid for a blood donation is against the law in Panama......it is obvious education is as badly needed, if not even more so than the present need for blood donations!
Many of us do not have to go far into our memory banks to remember a terrible accident where blood was immediately needed; Sheila & Dennis Parsick of XS, for example, or involving buses loaded with multiple people, one plunging over the end of the Bridge of the Americas, the commuter bus that caught fire, and so many other unexpected, but serious situations where blood is required, and required immediately. At any time it could be any one (or more) of us, which includes our Panamanian friends, or even someone we don't know (everyoneis someone's child, friend, and/or parent).
This has left us with two very important questions we want you to consider right now:
1) Is there a reasonable opportunitythat blood would be available if a large catastrophe or something to you, your friends and/or loved ones were to happen?
2) If not, how can we have some immediate hope and or assurance the hospital might be able to find someone willing to donate the type of blood needed, and in time?
There is a way to know the answers to these questions; but it is up to all of us! We do mean, allof us (see link below closing).
Yes, this email is a CALL to ALL Expat-Related Groups, Organizations, Associations, Businesses, Website owners, and "Regular Joes", to participate, and invite your Panamanian friends to participate, in the upcoming Pana-Expat"Blood For Everyone" Campaign.
This is not a challenge, a competition,or a temporary request; it is an Invitation for all of us to work as one for the introduction of this campaign which goes from October 18th to December 31st. We call this the introduction, because we must not to let it stop there. Please consider adding even one event to each of your upcoming social calendars for 2011 (or before if there is space) which either educates, promotes, or encourages participation in the Donation of Blood and/or addition to the now being initiated, Emergency Blood Donor Call List.
Please stay tuned, more information is coming out with the official Media Kick-off scheduled for October 18th, 2010. Additional details will be available that evening at the Expat Happy Hour Octoberfest Party at Rincon Aleman; of course, you know this is an event without membership requirements, thus as always, everyone is welcome and wanted, but there is extra emphasis for this one !
In the meantime, we ask that all Panama City Expats, and Expat-related groups, as well any of those willing to come in from the outlying areas to please reserve Saturday, November 13th, from 11:00am to 2:00pm for the
PANA-EXPAT "INVITE A FRIEND" EVENT where we can all unite as one, bring a Panamanian friend, and perform our personal choice of either adding our names to the Emergency Blood Donor Call List and/or actually donate blood.
We hope allgroups, associations, etc. will be amply represented through having an excellent turn-out for "Invite a Friend", so much so, that we also invite each Expat-related group, organization, or association receiving this email to consider reserving a an information table meant to inform, invite, and register new members into your organization. Due to space limitations, a maximum of 6 groups (first reserved, first confirmed) will be able to host these tables, which can be manned by a maximum of 3 of your group's representatives. The cost to have a table will be a donation to FUGSAVINI, in their effort to purchase a mobile blood donation unit. The amount can be decided by your board of directors. Location, and more exciting details in regards to this event are forthcoming, however please feel free to send your reservations to admin@expatsinpanama.com, remember we only have room for 6, but we may find a larger location so will keep all requests on a wait list. There is so much more to come......
Even though this email is coming from an Expats In Panama email address, it is being sent to you by request, with prior approval, and on behalf of:
The Pana-Expat "Blood For Everyone" Campaign Committee
which includes:
Ministerio de Salud Programa Nacional de Sangre, Hospital Santo Tomas, Hospital del Ninos, and Fundación Gotitas de Sangre y Vida para los Niños (FUGSAVINI).
PS: In reference to the all of us mentioned above, please click on this link:
