Recently, Ross Medical Education Center campus in Port Huron welcomed Katie McClain from Michigan Blood. She shared that “every four minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer.” In light of this, she explained the importance of becoming a donor. Although it comes as a surprise to many, only about 30% of people in need of a blood stem cell transplant are actually matched with someone in their family. This leaves 70% of the population in need to rely on volunteer donors to survive.
The process to become listed on the registry is quite simple and can be completed with a couple of quick swabs on the inside of the cheek and some light paperwork. Students were eager to learn more and asked many questions. Nicole Hardy, Medical Assistant student, asked “How are people matched? And could someone donate more than once?” Katie explained that the donor samples are thoroughly analyzed and need to meet at least eight out of ten very specific criteria in order for the match to be deemed viable. Unless the donation is going to a family member, donors are asked to donate at most twice. The desire of Be the Match is to work for the best interest of the donor as well as the recipient.
At the conclusion of the presentation, 18 students and staff members made the choice to join the Be the Match registry in the hopes of being a possible match in the future. Katie shared that the partnership between Ross Medical Education Center and Be the Match has generated over 600 new members to the registry.
For the thousands of people diagnosed every year with life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, a cure exists. Over the past 25 years Be The Match®, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), has managed the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world. They work every day to save lives through transplant.