The Red Cross has issued an urgent call for blood and platelet donors in our area.
Spokesperson Cara Noble says donations are down about 8 percent over the last 11 weeks. "And that's resulting in about 80,000 fewer donations that expected. And you know, hospital patients, they don't take a summer vacation, so the blood supply can't take a summer vacation. We really want to get the word out there that we really need donors to come out so we can prevent an emergency situation in the coming weeks."
The Red Cross is looking for blood donors of any type, but especially O negative, B negative and A negative blood.
There are typically fewer blood donations in the summer months. The impact was even greater this year because Independence Day fell on a Friday and that reduced the number of blood drives scheduled early in the month.
Interested donors can call 1-800-Red-Cross (1-800-733-2767), or visit www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment.