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While covering the grand opening and ribbon cutting of Lifesouth’s new blood donation center in Pelham this Wednesday, I arrived at 9:45 a.m. knowing that it had been far too long since I had donated blood.

After photographing the ceremony, speaking with members of the Shelby County Chamber and recording all comments made by those in attendance, I made my way to the front desk and started the short entry process that would have me in and out of the building by 10:40 a.m.

In addition to the large number of ideas and beliefs you may or may not agree with, the average adult holds roughly 10 pints of blood in their body at any given moment.

Should that adult decide to donate blood, one full unit of blood is typically equivalent to just one of those pints. Once completed, that same adult will need to wait eight entire weeks before being able to donate again without negative consequences.

Once the bag is filled, crimped and taken away for testing, it can be assumed that all blood donations will be processed and available within a period of 24 to 48 hours. While this may seem like a quick turnaround, this is coupled with the fact that hospitals in the United States use at least 29,000 pints of donated blood every single day. Which is not including the nearly 5,000 units of platelets and 6,500 units of plasma that are also required to keep up with current usage rates.

Those metrics, according to the American Red Cross, indicate that someone in this country will need to rely on the contributions and kindness of a stranger every two seconds. Which is unfortunate, because, according to the ARC, the United States is currently experiencing a blood shortage with donations sitting at a 20-year low as of the beginning of this year.

As I sat comfortably in the donation chair, reflecting on where my blood might end up and whom it might help, I was struck by the contrast between my easy comfort and the critical needs my donation might address in the coming days.

In the time you’ve spent reading this, a young man in Mobile may have begun receiving a blood transfusion to manage his sickle cell anemia. Elsewhere, a father might be receiving a transfusion to treat liver disease. In Birmingham, at Children’s of Alabama, a brave little girl is receiving platelet donations to aid her fight against leukemia and the debilitating effects of chemotherapy.

Thousands of individuals just like these rely on the kindness and selflessness of strangers each and every day. And those are just the ones that we know about ahead of time.

Later this evening, somewhere in our state, a critically injured teenager might be rushed to a busy hospital emergency room following one of the more than 36,000 car accidents that occur every day in the United States. In their treatment, they could require up to 100 units of blood, assuming they survive the night.

Even against those numbers and constant demand, if only one percent of the national population routinely donated blood, shortages would be nonexistent.

No one leaves their house with the intention of needing an emergency blood transfusion. However, you can leave yours with the intention of saving someone’s life at no added cost but 45 minutes of relative inconvenience that will include as little as 10 minutes of actually giving blood.

It’s commonly stated that one pint of blood can save up to three lives.

In no other circumstance can I imagine the act of simply sitting in a chair and squeezing a stress ball even possibly preventing a family from experiencing the worst day of their lives. In my opinion, that thought alone should provoke every American into at least attempting to donate, let alone just one percent of us.

Plus, they give you an apple juice when you’re done, so there’s that.