There's one major way to help the shooting victims if you're near Las Vegas right now
Donate blood.
As morning dawns on Las Vegas in the aftermath of Sunday night's horrific mass shooting, which killed at least 50 people and injured more than 400, that's the biggest thing anyone in the area — or even outside the area — can do to help. It's the singular plea echoing across social media again and again in the hours after the incident.
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Even if you don't live in the immediate vicinity of Las Vegas, a blood donation in the greater area will help. There are mechanisms for moving blood donations around, and Nevada residents are especially in a position to help.
Just bear in mind that some of these facilities may be closed in the early hours of the day. They may also be very busy, given what just happened. Even if there's a line, they still need your help. Just be patient, or look for alternatives.
A few general rules to keep in mind when it comes to blood donations:
In Nevada, people as young as 17 to donate without parental consent; 16-year-olds can donate as well, but only with parental consent (find the form you'll need right here). Regardless of age, a donor must also weigh more than 110 pounds.
All blood donors are screened ahead of time. As long as you're in relatively good health and disease/infection-free, it's worth your time to try to donate. Worst case, you're turned away.
The Las Vegas Sun wrote a how-to for blood donations in Nevada a couple of years ago. Most of the information in there (if not all of it) still applies, so give it a read if you're local and you have any further questions.
You should also pay a visit to the United Blood Services website. The nonprofit operates in many U.S. states (find the Nevada portal right here). There are multiple United Blood Services facilities throughout the state. You can see the list of them, organized by a helpful Twitter user, below.
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The Red Cross also collects blood donations, with pop-up blood drives happening around the country on a weekly basis. There's one scheduled for Monday, Oct. 2 at the SpringHill Suites Las Vegas Convention Center that will be running from 9 a.m. PT to 4 p.m. PT. You can find a blood drive near you via a ZIP code search on the Red Cross website.
Topics Health Social Good
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
