Robins man reaches 1,000 donation mark for giving blood

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Robins man reached his 1,000th donation for platelets this week at ImpactLife. That’s the most donations anyone has made in the Cedar Rapids area and also the four- state region — Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Wisconsin — that the blood center serves.

The ImpactLife staff had a small celebration at the East Donor Center in Lindale Crossing, 4828 First Ave. NE, on Monday to mark the 1,000 donation, which is the equivalent of 125 gallons of blood, that Pete Bischoff, 77, has donated over the years.

Bischoff received a large balloon and other gifts to commemorate the day.

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Bischoff said he initially started giving blood while in the U.S. Army stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. On Thanksgiving Day 1966, servicemen were asked to give blood, and he and about five others volunteered. In return, they received a three-day pass, $50 savings bond and the rest of the day off, so “I thought that was a pretty good deal,” Bischoff said.

He donated a few more times after that but then didn’t donate again after returning home. Bischoff started donating again in the mid-1970s. When St. Luke’s blood center received a platelets machine, they asked him to donate platelets. A few years later, Mercy Medical Center received a machine and a friend of his that worked for the blood bank asked him to donate to them.

Bischoff continued to donate to the regional area blood center, which became ImpactLife in 2021, where he now donates platelets every other week.

Platelets are cells in the blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding, according to ImpactLife. Some people can develop a condition called thrombocytopenia where they have a low platelet count, due to cancer or other underlying causes and need a transfusion.

Platelets also are used in open heart surgery, organ and bone marrow transplants and for victims of trauma.

Kirby Winn, ImpactLife public relations manager, said ImpactLife has an active donor base of about 580 platelet donors in Cedar Rapids. By “active” he means there are 580 people who have donated platelets at the two donor centers in Cedar Rapids over the last two years.

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Across ImpactLife’s service region, it has nearly 6,000 active platelet donors, but Bischoff has the highest total number of donations of the current/active donor platelet base.

“We appreciate Pete for his long-term commitment to supporting the community as a platelet donor,” Winn said.

Bischoff said, “You have to be in pretty good health to donate platelets. I watch my weigh. It also helps that I have O negative blood type” — universal blood type — which can be used in transfusions for any blood type.

Bischoff said the center tests his hemoglobin, which must be a certain level before you are able to donate platelets.

Donors like Bischoff can donate platelets up to 24 times a year or every two weeks, according to ImpactLife. While red blood cells must be used within 42 days of donation, platelets must be used within seven days of donation, which makes it a priority to maintain regular schedules for platelet donation.

During a platelet donation, an automated collection unit is used to separate blood components as donors are giving blood. Once separated, a port opens inside the machine to remove platelets and the remaining blood components are returned to the donor. The entire process, including pre-donation screening and post-donation refreshments, can last about 70 minutes to two hours.

Anyone interested in donating blood or finding out more about donor eligibility, can contact ImpactLife at (800) 747-5401.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com