Calling All Donors
Local need for blood is still urgent
TEXARKANA — The emergency need for blood continues across the region as LifeShare Blood Center remains unable to support the needs of local hospitals.
LifeShare issued an emergency appeal earlier this week — the first in 15 months — for blood donors after some surgeries and treatments were postponed because of the low blood supply.
Since then, LifeShare has seen an increase in the number of blood donors, but it hasn’t been enough to help overcome the deficit, said LifeShare Regional Director Elizabeth Cunningham.
LifeShare is running on a critically low inventory and isn’t filling many hospital orders. As of Thursday,
“The response has been mediocre and we need big numbers to catch up.” — LifeShare Regional Director Elizabeth Cunningham
LifeShare didn’t have any units of B negative blood in Texarkana and only had one unit of O negative blood. O negative is the universal blood type and is often given to mothers and infants.
“We would like to say we’ve seen an incredible response from the community thus far, but that’s not the case,” Cunningham said. “The response has been mediocre and we need big numbers to catch up. People are waiting right now.”
While red blood cells can be kept refrigerated for up to 42 days after donation, at LifeShare, donated blood is only on the shelf for a few hours – sometimes minutes – before it is sent to a hospital following testing.
“We have more patients waiting for blood than donors. We have to meet that need,” Cunningham said.
LifeShare continues operating on extended hours at all of its donor centers. All donor centers will be
open this week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
A list of all mobile drives can be found online at LifeShare.org.
LifeShare continues to reach out to businesses and churches to try to schedule blood drives. Young donors are also being asked to give. The number of young donors has dramatically decreased since the outbreak of COVID-19, Cunningham said.