CHOC to Sponsor Bone-Marrow Drive
The Children’s Hospital of Orange County will host a bone-marrow drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 7 to encourage the public to become volunteer donors.
Donors are registered with the National Marrow Donor Program, which provides marrow and blood stem-cell transplants for patients with leukemia and other life-threatening blood diseases.
Each year, more than 30,000 children and adults in the United States are diagnosed with a life-threatening blood disease, according to the hospital. For many of them, a marrow or stem-cell transplant is their only chance for a cure.
Volunteer donors must be 18 through 60 and in good general health with no history of cancer, insulin-dependent diabetes, heart disease or heart attacks. Ethnic donors are encouraged to participate.
After being educated about the donation process and signing a consent form, volunteers give a small blood sample that will be tested for marrow type and listed on the National Marrow Donor Program’s national registry. If a volunteer donor matches any of the patients searching the registry, he or she will participate in additional testing, a physical exam and counseling about donation procedures. The process takes 15 to 30 minutes.
The drive will be held in the main lobby of the hospital, 455 S. Main St. (714) 289-4032.
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