Images courtesy of LIFELINE Blood Services and Shutterstock; designed by TTR
LIFELINE Blood Services announced Monday that they will continue their Critical Appeal due to West Tennessee’s blood supply being at an extremely low level. Blood types O positive, O negative, A positive, A negative, B positive, and B negative are needed right away.
“Our blood supply has been running low for three weeks now and our blood usage was high over the Memorial Day weekend. We have not seen the big donor response that we are so desperate for, so we are staying on Critical Appeal. We know it’s the blood on the shelves that saves lives, and we need donors to step up and make the time to donate today. Our West TN patients are counting on us!” said Melinda Reid, Marketing Manager with LIFELINE Blood Services.
The shortage is caused by low donor turn out at both Jackson and Dyersburg Centers as well as on our mobile blood drives coupled with high usage over the Memorial Day weekend. LIFELINE Blood Services needs to draw about 450 units of whole blood each week to maintain an adequate blood supply.
“Summer is always a challenging time to maintain an adequate blood supply at LIFELINE. We are experiencing a critical shortage, and we need everyone to donate immediately at either our Jackson or Dyersburg Center or on one of our mobile blood drives in order to save lives. You never know when you will be the one on the receiving end in the hospital needing blood, so please donate today!” said Melinda Reid, Marketing Manager with LIFELINE Blood Services.
LIFELINE wants to remind their donors, ages 18 years and up, that they can enter to win a 2020 Ford Mustang upon donating at either one of their Centers or on a mobile blood drive
LIFELINE Blood Services, located at 183 Sterling Farms Drive, is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. The Dyersburg Center is located at 1130 HWY 51 Bypass, Suite 19 & 20, and is open Saturday and Wednesday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sunday through Tuesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. No appointment is necessary to donate whole blood.
LIFELINE provides blood services to 21 West Tennessee counties, including 18 hospitals and 14 emergency helicopter service locations and 1 ground ambulance service. 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 usually collected on the bloodmobiles across West Tennessee. LIFELINE also provides reference lab and cross-matching services to healthcare facilities. For more information, visit lifelinebloodserv.org.