Blood Donors Asked To Refill Reserve Following Winter Storm

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, the sole supplier of blood products to 44 area healthcare facilities, is calling on eligible blood donors to help refill blood reserve levels, which dropped sharply during the winter storm last week.

Virtually all scheduled blood drives for Wednesday through Friday of last week were wiped out. Donor centers in Joplin, Springdale and Bentonville were closed late last week as well. Over 500 blood donations were lost due to the cancellations.

“While we did experience significant losses last week, our blood reserve levels were adequate in keeping up with local hospital demand,” CBCO media relations representative Chris Pilgrim said. “Events like last week’s storm help to illustrate the importance of having those reserves on hand. Without them, last week would have been a very different story from the perspective of blood availability. We are calling on eligible blood donors to give this week at a CBCO blood drive or donor center to help us build those reserves back up to acceptable levels.”

Blood usage in Ozarks area hospitals remains high. January’s transfusion numbers were the highest that have been seen in three years.

“Blood usage doesn’t stop when major weather events like this occur,” Pilgrim said. “It still takes around 200 donations each day to fulfill local needs. If you are eligible, please consider giving this week. There are dozens of opportunities to save lives all across the Ozarks.”

While supplies last, successful donors will receive a long-sleeved, quarter-zip CBCO pullover as a thank you.

To find a blood drive near you and make an appointment to give, visit https:// www.cbco.org/donateblood/.

On behalf of local hospital patients, CBCO thanks blood donors from across the region for giving life to your community.