The Gift of Life
When you donate blood, you give someone the gift of life. It’s one of the easiest ways to make a big difference and help others. And if you donate blood to Cape Cod Healthcare, your donation stays on the Cape to benefit your friends and neighbors rather than being transferred outside our community.
The blood donor center at Cape Cod Hospital has been named after Nicholas Xiarhos, a Yarmouth resident who was killed during combat in Afghanistan.
The Xiarhos family has held a blood drive for Cape Cod Healthcare in Nick’s memory every year since his death in 2009.
“To be born at Cape Cod Hospital. To have these blood drives every year in his memory and to be so successful in getting the blood that saves lives, it was really something that we all thought was special,” said Steven Xiarhos, Nick’s father and Yarmouth deputy police chief.
Xiarhos said it felt powerful and bittersweet when he found out the blood donor center would be named after his son but was something the family was very proud of.
Blood donation is meaningful to the Xiarhos family because Nick was unable to be kept alive due to a lack of blood. “They literally called in Marines and were drawing blood from their arms to help save him,” Steven said.
Blood Donor Portal
The portal allows blood donors to:
- Schedule donation appointments at the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Blood Donor Center inside Cape Cod Hospital or at one of Cape Cod Healthcare’s community blood drives.
- Track donation frequency.
- Keep a record of vitals such as blood pressure, pulse, temperature and hemoglobin level from each donation.
- Receive email reminders for appointments and upcoming donation eligibility based on timing of last appointment.
Donations made through the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Blood Donor Center at Cape Cod Healthcare stay on the Cape to help friends and neighbors instead of being transferred out of the community.
Platelet Donation Program
Blood isn’t just a single gift. Its parts – platelets, plasma and red blood cells – provide several distinct gifts a donor can give to a patient.
Cape Cod Healthcare’s Platelet Donation Program will enable donors to have their blood separated into these individual components. Cape Cod Healthcare performs 700 platelet transfusions a year between our hospitals in Hyannis and Falmouth. Platelets are particularly useful to patients who need help with blood clotting, or to those patients with weakened immune systems.
Why Donate Blood
Blood is a need that never goes away. Our hospitals perform more than 8,500 transfusions per year for such things as elective and emergency surgery, anemia, bleeding disorders and massive blood loss due to trauma. It’s important to know that:
- About one in 10 people entering a hospital needs blood
- Red blood cells have a limited shelf life—just 42 days—so they must be constantly replenished
- One pint of blood can save up to two lives
- There is no substitute for human blood
Every pint of blood donated to Cape Cod Healthcare stays on Cape Cod to serve the community and save lives.
Bloodmobile
The Cape Cod Healthcare Bloodmobile is completely self-sufficient and makes it even easier to donate blood. It is ideal for sponsors who want to host their own blood drive, but do not have the space needed to set up the blood donation equipment.
The state-of-the-art, self-contained bloodmobile is set up with a waiting area, two confidential medical history booths, four blood donation beds and a refreshment area. In about one hour, you and the phlebotomist can complete the entire donation process.
The bloodmobile can accommodate groups of many sizes and can tailor the blood drive to suit your needs.
