Courtesy of LIFELINE Blood Services
Dyersburg: LIFELINE Blood Services is always busy. The blood bank, which provides services to 20 counties and 13 emergency helicopter service locations, has served West Tennessee since 1947. While LIFELINE’s home base is in Jackson where the Center is open Monday-Saturday from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm, they also send out an average of three mobile units a day to collect blood at drives across West Tennessee. Still, though, the need for more blood donors continues to grow. The hospitals served by LIFELINE require an average of 525 units per week. The team knew they had to do something new to increase their donor base in the height of the pandemic.
“We needed something fresh,” said Marketing Manager Caitlin Roach, “But we felt the best option was to utilize a community that already knew our name.”
That community, LIFELINE staff soon decided, was Dyersburg.
“LIFELINE has a strong donor base in Dyersburg,” said Roach. “We have had a relationship with the city since the late 1970s. We already have a standing drive at FUMC Dyersburg on the third Thursday of every month, in addition to other frequent drives in the area. It was the perfect place to open our second-ever fixed site location.”
And so they did. On January 11th, LIFELINE Blood Services Dyersburg Center opened its doors for the first time. Located at 1130 Highway 51 Bypass Suite 19 & 20 (in the same area as Java Café and across the highway from Lowe’s) the newly renovated center is the perfect place for Dyersburg residents and those in surrounding counties to give blood. The staff has six donor chairs available for use, as well as a reception area, two rooms for donor mini-physicals, and a canteen area for donors to relax in and enjoy
a snack after donating. The Dyersburg Center is open Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Wednesday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. They are closed Thursday and Friday. Donors can schedule an appointment or just walk in to donate.
At this time, the Dyersburg Center is only taking whole blood donations but plans to expand to offer apheresis services in the coming months. This means that donors will be able to donate plasma, the liquid part of the blood, and platelets, which are most often given to cancer patients. As of now, the Jackson Center is the only location that gives donors the option for apheresis, but not for long.
“Everyone is just so excited,” said Roach. “The staff is thrilled to be there, the community has been so welcoming and glad to have us—and we’re glad to be here.”
A grand opening celebration will be held in the spring.
To learn more about LIFELINE Blood Services, call 731.427.4431 or visit lifelinebloodserv.org.
