BLOOD DONATIONS NEEDED
The American Red Cross has extended its urgent call for donors of all blood types to give blood or platelets. With influenza escalating across the country and preventing some donors from giving, and winter weather threatening to cancel blood drives, the Red Cross now has a critical shortage of type O blood and urgently needs donors to restock the shelves.
Currently, the Red Cross has less than a three-day supply of type O blood available for patient emergencies and medical treatments. Type O positive blood is the most transfused blood type and can be given to Rh-positive patients of any blood type. While just 7% of the U.S. population has type O negative blood, it can be transfused to patients with any blood type and is what hospital staff reach for during emergencies when there isn’t time to determine a patient’s blood type.
Every day, the Red Cross must collect nearly 13,000 blood donations and more than 2,600 platelet donations for patients who rely on blood to survive. Shortfalls in donations can cause delays in essential medical care for patients like 12-year-old Dagan Hawkins.
Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in November, Dagan has required platelet and blood transfusions during his cancer treatments. “There was a time when they needed to have blood products delivered from another hospital because they were unavailable there,” said Dustin Hawkins, Dagan’s father.
Donors of all blood types – especially types O positive and O negative – are urged to make an appointment to give blood or platelets now using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
Aiken named to Dean’s List
Dean College is pleased to announce that Patrick Aiken, Jr. of East Boston has earned a place on the Dean’s List for the Fall 2019 semester. These students have demonstrated a serious commitment to their studies while at Dean College.
Founded in 1865, Dean College is a private, residential college located in Franklin Massachusetts, 45 minutes from Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island. Dean College offers baccalaureate degrees, associate degree programs, as well as a robust schedule of part-time continuing and professional education credit and certificate programs throughout the calendar year.
Mung named to Dean’s List
Fong Mung of East Boston, was named to the Becker College Dean’s List for the Fall 2019 semester. Mung is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Veterinary Science, Pre-Veterinary Concentration.
The Dean’s List recognizes all full-time students (24 or more credit hours earned for the academic year; 12 minimum each semester – September through May) whose term grade point average is 3.50 or higher with no grade below a B- and no incomplete (I) or withdrawal/failing (WF) grades.
Becker College is an undergraduate and graduate, career-focused private college, providing a supportive and inclusive learning community that prepares graduates for their first to last careers. Nearly 1,700 students from the United States and around the world live and learn on the College’s Worcester and Leicester campuses. With nationally recognized programs in nursing, game design and animal studies, Becker has been consistently ranked as a “Best College” for undergraduate education by The Princeton Review.