Rhode Island Blood Center among groups ramping up efforts to aid Gulf Coast
WOONSOCKET – The catastrophic flooding in Houston has increased the need for blood donations and residents here in Woonsocket can help.
Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC) is calling on the community to make an appointment to donate blood over the next two weeks to help prevent blood shortages both for the Gulf Coast regions directly impacted by Hurricane Harvey, and for other blood centers across the country responding to the crisis.
The agency operates six blood centers throughout the state, including at 2168 Diamond Hill Road, Woonsocket, which will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday of next week from noon to 7 p.m.
The RIBC also has centers in Middletown, Narragansett, Providence, Warwick and Westerly.
Providers around the Houston area are about 1,000 units short. Shortages after natural disasters are typically caused by the cancellations of blood drives and regular appointments. The catastrophic flooding has surrounded Houston’s Gulf Coast Blood Center has made it impossible to distribute blood or to collect blood from donors.
The Rhode Blood Center is urging anyone who is eligible to donate through Labor Day weekend and next week.
“We have already responded to Texas blood centers by sending 345 donations to the area — some in advance of the storm and others requested last Saturday morning, which we sent via air courier for emergency delivery that same day,” said Beau Tompkins, RIBC’s director of
hospital services. “Because blood donations take two days of safety testing to process, it is the blood on the shelves from regular blood donors that allows RIBC to respond in times of crisis.”
“Our first priority is to ensure the blood supply in Rhode Island and Southeastern New England, but we also want to continue to be as responsive as possible to the country’s needs in the coming weeks, while ensuring that we continue to provide excellent service for the hospitals and patients we serve,” Tompkins added.
Kara LeBlanc, RIBC’s communications manager, said blood centers in the Gulf Coast region will likely continue to be impacted over the coming weeks in various ways - from not being able to open and run blood collection operations, to donors not being able to get to the locations to give.
“The best thing our community can do right now is to book an appointment to give at one of our six donation centers or at any upcoming blood drive in the next couple of weeks,” she said. “If you are a donor, please answer our call for donations, keep your appointments if you’re feeling well, and book an appointment. If you have never given before, now is a great time to take action and help someone else.”
All blood types are needed - especially type O positive and negative blood types.
LeBlanc said appointments are strongly encouraged because they help the center minimize wait times and schedule the number of donations needed each day.
To donate or make an appointment, visit www. ribc.org or call (401) 4538383. Follow Joseph Fitzgerald on Twitter @jofitz7