Forrest General Hospital Patients, Procedures Rely on Community Blood Donations

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – (October 14, 2024) Tim Brock, director of Plant Operations-Engineering for Forrest Health, has always understood how important the quarterly blood drives were that his employer, Forrest Health, held. He and his wife have always donated blood, but he never understood the complexities of blood donation until he needed the life-saving component earlier this year.

Brock, who came into Forrest General a little jaundiced and not feeling good, was diagnosed with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. This autoimmune disorder causes the body to destroy its own red blood cells faster than the body can produce them. Brock said while the body’s hemoglobin is normally 14.6, his was down to 5.6. “I had about a quarter of the blood that I should have had in my body,” he said. The positive was that he had a really common type of blood, A+, but his antibodies were not common at all. That made finding the exact blood with the right antibodies he needed difficult.

The Forrest General Lab had no units in stock that were compatible to his exact needs, so they turned to their primary blood supplier at the time. Unfortunately, they could not meet his immediate needs either. The hospital’s secondary blood supplier at the time, The Blood Center, went to work. “They fought and got units from multiple states,” said Brock. “While The Blood Center had hundreds of A+ blood on hand, it was the antibodies in my blood that caused the problem. The blood that The Blood Center was able to get me saved my life,” Brock said.

“The Blood Center stepped up and was able to provide what we used to save Tim’s life,” said Stephanie Moss, FGH Blood Bank supervisor. “They came through for Tim when no one else could help him. It was a team effort.”

That’s why it is important for members of the community to donate blood – whether through drives set up by businesses, schools, clubs and organizations, or other such groups. While there can be shelves of different types of bloods available, it is often the different antibodies that blood carries that make the biggest difference. At other times, the demand for blood is so great, blood on shelves becomes scarce, especially during holidays and the summer months when blood drives aren’t abundant.

The Blood Center has since become Forrest Health’s primary blood supplier. “Many people think because their home office is in New Orleans that blood donated in the Hattiesburg area is taken to Louisiana and distributed,” said Stephanie Brown, Forrest General’s Director of Laboratory Services. “That’s not the case. Blood donated in the Greater Hattiesburg area stays right here in Hattiesburg to be used at Forrest General Hospital and its regional facilities. The Blood Center also has offices around South Mississippi, as well – Richton, Columbia, and Picayune, where Forrest Health has facilities, and Ocean Springs. On the other hand, blood donated through other blood suppliers is oftentimes distributed outside the area, and is not kept to help locally.”

In fact, The Blood Center has been the primary supplier of blood components to local hospitals throughout South Mississippi, the Gulf Coast, and South Louisiana for 64 years.

“As a Level II Trauma Center, community support of blood drives is essential to keep our hospital and other local medical facilities operating,” said Brown. “We desperately need help from the community, so we can get those units. We don’t know when a patient comes in how much blood they will need. Statistics show about one in seven people entering a hospital need blood. One pint of blood can save up to three lives.”

At Forrest General, 1,398 blood products were used during April. In May, that number was 1,003. “On the average, we are using about 1,000 products a month,” said Moss, noting one trauma patient can use 80 units of blood products in a hurry. “That’s why the hospital’s Blood Bank is part of the Trauma team. We also have to be prepared just like they are for whatever comes in the door. The community can help us by giving to The Blood Center, so the blood comes to the hospital.”

Moss said for many heart procedures, four units of red blood cells have to be on hold at all times during those surgeries. “We may not use them during the procedure, but we have to reserve the units until the patient is hemodynamically stable, which can be about 24 hours. Trauma, heart, cancer, and sickle cell patients, along with patients in the Emergency Department and Labor & Delivery, are our most common users of blood products. In many situations, their lives are dependent on blood donations from our community.”

Healthy adults who are at least 16 or 17 years old (with a signed parental consent form), and at least 113 pounds may donate about a pint of blood – every 56 days, or every two months.

“Community blood drives are important to us, as long as The Blood Center is the collecting agency,” said Brown. “Blood collected from blood drives held by other suppliers in the area do not provide to local Hattiesburg hospitals. The Blood Center, Mississippi Blood Services, and Red Cross are the only blood suppliers who provide blood to our community.”

Forrest General and The Blood Center are already preparing for their next blood drive which will be January 14 and 15, 2025. “This blood drive will be open to the public, and we would love to have a great turnout,” said Brown. ”In the past, we have depended mainly on the donations from our employees. However, we could very easily go through blood donations from our employees in as little as three days.”

Millie Swan, vice president for Forrest Health, hopes the community will help the community by keeping blood donations local. “It’s so important to be able to help our neighbors – those we go to church with, see in the grocery store, and work with,” said Swan. “By donating blood through The Blood Center you are making a local impact and making a difference in the lives of people right here in your own community.”

While Tim Brock hasn’t been cleared by his physician to donate blood just yet, his wife will be donating once again, and he’s encouraging other family members, friends, and co-workers to donate, as well. He hopes the community will do the same.

For more information on donating blood in Forrest Health’s upcoming drive, follow Facebook at Forrest General Hospital or The Blood Center. To donate blood now call 601-402-7815 or visit their office in The Arbor at 4700 Hardy Street, Suite P, Hattiesburg.

ABOUT FORREST HEALTH

Forrest Health is a system of healthcare organizations formed to increase access to quality health care in south Mississippi. Forrest General Hospital is its flagship hospital. In addition to Forrest General, Forrest Health hospitals include: Highland Community Hospital, Picayune; Jefferson Davis Community Hospital & Extended Care Facility, Prentiss; Marion General Hospital, Columbia; Pearl River County Hospital & Nursing Home, Poplarville; Perry County General Hospital, Richton; and Walthall General Hospital, Tylertown. Forrest Health is also home to The Orthopedic Institute and Institute of Neuroscience, both in Hattiesburg, as well as a variety of healthcare clinics throughout its 19-county coverage area.