Logo, Lifeline, background image, Shutterstock, designed by TTR
LIFELINE Blood Services announced Thursday that the organization has issued a Critical Appeal for types O positive and O negative blood.
“Our blood supply has reached critically low levels,” said Melinda Reid, Marketing Manager with LIFELINE. “We have a local patient that has depleted our supply. With type O being the foundation of the blood supply, it is imperative that we be able to build our supply back to a safe level.”
West Tennessee requires an average of 500 units per week to have enough blood to meet local needs. To put it in perspective, if there were any kind of trauma at area hospitals, there would not be enough blood available for the patient. LIFELINE does not currently have enough O type blood in its community blood supply to sustain normal usage from hospitals, much less a trauma.
“We are begging people of O positive and O negative to come in and donate as soon as possible,” said Reid. “We need people to respond now. Personal disasters are going on in people’s lives every day and many of these require blood transfusions. Please donate blood now!”
Lifeline Blood Services has two fixed site locations where donors can give whole blood, plasma, and platelets. The Jackson Center is located at 183 Sterling Farms Drive and is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. The Dyersburg Center is located at 1130 Highway 51 Bypass Suite 19 & 20 across from Lowes and is open Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. To speak with someone about donating blood, call 731.427.4431, ext. 0.
LIFELINE provides blood services to 20 West Tennessee counties and 13 emergency helicopter service locations. Annually, the Center collects approximately 26,000 blood products (red cell units, platelets, plasma, etc.) to meet the needs of patients. Of that total, 75% of those products are collected on the bloodmobiles across West Tennessee. LIFELINE also provides reference lab and cross-matching services to healthcare facilities.