The nation’s blood banks — represented by the American Association of Blood Banks, America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross — called Monday for immediate blood donations to boost already dangerously low blood supplies.
For Scott and White in Temple, it’s been a tough time to collect enough blood.
“It’s starting to hit closer to home,” said Jennifer Roden, the Scott and White Blood Center donor recruitment manager, on Monday.
“We’re almost halfway into the month of January and we need 1,200 units this month to meet our patient needs. So far, we only have 172. Each day we ask donors to give blood. We make overhead announcements, we’re making calls out to the community and the donors still aren’t coming in.”
Monday’s national request for blood donations is tied to several contributing factors, according to a news release to address the winter blood shortage. Those factors include holiday travel, breaks from school, extreme weather conditions in the West and a decline in sponsor-scheduled blood drives.
