Blood Drive for the ION Cancer hospital

The ION Cancer hospital will host a blood drive on Saturday, September 17th from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. in the Las Pergolas plaza (Novey/Riba Smith plaza). The ION Cancer blood drive will set up about 5 stores down from Philipe Mota. Anyone eligible to donate blood in Panama is welcome - see requirements below.

CASA sent out a note this morning to clarify that the blood drive that has been canceled was not the ION Cancer hospital blood drive taking place in Coronado, but rather the National hospital drive that was set to take place in the city. The blood drive for the Cancer Hospital in Coronado is still on and very much in need of your help. 

Requirements for donating blood in Panama

Age: You must be between the ages of 18 and 65 although you may be 17 with parental permission. In special circumstances including additional testing and authorized approval from the supervising physician, a healthy person 65 and over may be able to donate.


- You must be a resident of Panama, and have been present in the country a minimum of 1 month if having been in the US or Canada, 6 months for most other countries.

- You must bring with you proof of identity in the form of a photo ID : resident card, driving license or passport.
  
- Must weigh at least 110 lbs (50k)


- Sickle Cell Trait people can donate

- Women having their menstrual period and/or taking birth control can donate

- If tattooed, all tattoos must be more than six months old and well healed

- Nursing or potentially pregnant women cannot donate
    
- No aspirin intake for 24 hours before donating.


- No alcohol the day of donation. 
- Eat before you donate.
You must be infection-free for the last 10 days.

A history of the following infectious disease will also disqualify you: TB, Malaria, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, HIV/AIDS, Chagas Disease and Yellow fever. CMV and Mononucleosis will not disqualify you if the disease is not recent.
 You must have normal blood pressure. You can be on blood pressure medication as long as your BP is normal when you are screened at donation time. If your BP drops during the collection process you will not be accepted for further donation.